WEEKLY: China's alumina inventory build slows

Total alumina inventories across the country's 10 major ports, 44 alumina producers, 89 primary aluminum smelters, and rail yards or in transit tracked by Mysteel stood at 5.85 million tonnes as of March 26, up by a marginal 0.2% from a week earlier, according to Mysteel's survey.

Although the total stock volume reached a fresh high, the increase was the smallest weekly rise since late February, reflecting a clear easing in the pace of inventory accumulation, Mysteel Global noted.

Behind the slowdown was principally a decline in portside inventories. As of Thursday, alumina stocks at the 10 major ports monitored by Mysteel had fallen by 10.6% on week to 320,000 tonnes, reversing the climbs seen in the previous four consecutive weeks, the survey findings showed.

The decrease was largely the result of accelerated procurement and cargo pickups by primary aluminum smelters during the week, according to market watchers.

Meanwhile, inventories held by alumina producers also decreased this week, further contributing to the slower overall stock build. Alumina stocks being held by the 44 surveyed refiners reached 150,000 tonnes as of March 26, lower by 6.3% from a week earlier, according to Mysteel's data.

On the supply side, alumina production remained broadly stable during the same week. Output of smelter-grade alumina by the same 44 producers ticked up by 0.1% on week to 1.78 million tonnes over March 20-26.

With supply and demand in the spot market remaining tightly balanced, domestic alumina prices continued to firm. On March 26, Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a minimum purity of 98.6% at Yuan 2,774/tonne ($401.7/t), up 1% on week.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com