DAILY: China's spot alumina prices maintain uptrend

Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a minimum purity of 98.6% at Yuan 2,770/tonne ($401.3/t) including the 13% VAT on Wednesday, up by a further Yuan 7/t from Tuesday. The increase reflected higher prices across most of China's five major alumina production hubs.

By region, the assessed price for the same grade of alumina rose most notably in Guizhou province, climbing by Yuan 15/t on day to Yuan 2,800/t. In Shandong province, the price increased by Yuan 10/t from the previous day to Yuan 2,745/t. Prices in Henan and Shanxi provinces edged up by a smaller Yuan 5/t to Yuan 2,780/t and Yuan 2,785/t, respectively. In contrast, that in the Guangxi autonomous region stayed flat at Yuan 2,740/t.

Meanwhile, the domestic alumina futures market weakened further. The most-traded alumina May contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped by 2.15% during Wednesday's daytime trading and dropped by a further 0.98% during the nighttime session, closing at Yuan 2,936/t as of 1 a.m. Thursday. 

Despite expectations of increased alumina supply from newly commissioned capacity and imports, these volumes have not circulated in the spot market yet, leaving the supply-demand balance temporarily tight.

While some primary aluminum smelters continued to restock raw materials, alumina producers and traders held firm on their offers, pushing up alumina prices in the physical market.

Spot trading activity remained steady yesterday. Mysteel heard of one deal concluded on March 25, with a smelter in Sichuan province purchasing 3,000 tonnes of alumina from a Guizhou-based refiner at Yuan 2,830/t including VAT.

The same day, a transaction was also reported in the overseas market, with a 30,000-tonne deal traded at $320/t FOB Australia for April shipment to China.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com