DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices inch lower, futures rebound slightly overnight

The national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a purity exceeding 98.6% dipped by Yuan 5/tonne ($0.7/t) from the previous day to Yuan 2,665/t including the 13% VAT last Friday, Mysteel's daily price assessment showed.

The further decline was driven by broadly softer alumina pricing across China's five major alumina-producing regions, according to market watchers. The assessed prices for the same grade of alumina in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region all slipped by Yuan 5/t on day to range between Yuan 2,565/t and Yuan 2,760/t.

In the derivatives market, the most-traded May 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange posted a minimal gain of 0.07% to close Friday's nighttime trading at 2,768/t by 1 a.m. last Saturday, after recording a 1.26% loss during the daytime session.

Buying activity was sparse in the spot market on the last working day of the week, as only a few primary aluminum smelters with urgent restocking needs entered the market to secure some tonnage, market watchers noted. Meanwhile, some alumina refiners continued to trim their offers to reduce stocks and facilitate sales. 

Mysteel heard of only one finalized deal on January 16. A primary aluminum smelter in Southwest China purchased 5,000 tonnes of spot alumina from an alumina producer at a delivered price of Yuan 2,780/t inclusive of freight and VAT.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com