Mysteel's daily price assessment showed that the national average price for smelter-grade alumina with a minimum purity of 98.6% stood at 2,762 Yuan/tonne, flat compared to the previous business day.
The stable price trend can be attributed to the offering prices in China's five key alumina production regions, where the prices all stood flat from the prior day at Yuan 2,765/tonne in Shandong, Yuan 2,790/tonne in Henan, Yuan 2,800/tonne in Shanxi, Yuan 2,675/tonne in Guangxi, and Yuan 2,780/tonne in Guizhou, based on Mysteel's assessment.
In the derivatives market, alumina futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed slight volatility. The most-traded alumina contract for September delivery fell by 1.44% by the end of Monday's daytime trading and inched up by 0.15% overnight, closing the nighttime session at Yuan 2,698/t as of 1 a.m. Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
China's alumina prices lacked momentum recently. While the futures price remained on the downward track, the spot prices have stalled for four straight business days. With Guinea's bauxite export control-related premiums fading away, the market has basically returned to the fundamentals.
Based on Mysteel's weekly survey, China's total alumina inventory, including port inventory, aluminum smelters' in-plant raw material stocks, alumina refineries' in-plant finished products inventory, and stocks at station and in transit, have been building since the beginning of 2026, which recorded approximately 6.3 million tonnes by July 10, indicating sustained oversupply.
On the spot market, new and restarted production capacity in the Guangxi region is gradually coming online. As the price spread between the north and south remains profitable for arbitragers, cross-regional flows from south to north have been increasing. In addition, the recent supply additions have constrained the downstream tolerance for high alumina prices. It is expected that the alumina prices will remain soft in the near term.
Written by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
