Mysteel's daily price assessment showed that the national average price for smelter-grade alumina with a minimum purity of 98.6% dropped to 2,734 Yuan/tonne, down 6 Yuan/tonne compared to the previous day.
The downward price trend can be attributed to the offering prices in China's five key alumina production regions. In Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and Guizhou assessed prices for the same grade of alumina both declined by Yuan 5/t from the prior day, to Yuan 2,725/t, Yuan 2,755/t, Yuan 2,755/t Yuan 2,775/t, respectively.
Additionally, prices for the same grade of alumina in Guangxi dropped by Yuan 10/t to Yuan 2,660/t.
In the derivatives market, alumina futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed slight volatility. The most-traded alumina contract for September delivery dropped by 1.34% by the end of Thursday's daytime trading and decreased by 0.34% overnight, closing the nighttime session at Yuan 2,639/t as of 1 a.m. Friday, July 31, 2026.
According to Mysteel's research, the traders' inventory of alumina in China stood at 6.398 million tonnes this week, up 26,000 tonnes from last week. Rising cross-regional shipments have driven a gradual shift of downstream aluminum smelters' raw material inventories toward port and in-transit stocks.
Meanwhile, widening regional price spreads have intensified spot sales pressure in some markets, leading to a slight build-up of on-site inventories at alumina refineries. As newly commissioned and restarted capacities in southern China gradually stabilize, regional supply capability has increased, and inventory pressure at individual plants has also risen.
Furthermore, some traders remain pessimistic about the outlook, maintaining a willingness to sell at discounts. In the near term, no signs of large-scale production cuts or maintenance have emerged in either northern or southern regions, and the weak fundamental landscape is unlikely to see significant improvement. Spot prices are expected to continue their soft trend.
