DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices stabilise

Chinese alumina prices for spot sales largely stabilised on April 23, while those for futures contracts retreated the same day. Mysteel assessed the national average price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a minimum purity of 98.6 per cent at RMB 2,696 per tonne (USD 395 per tonne) on Thursday, unchanged for the third consecutive day.

At the regional level, the assessed prices for the same grade of alumina all stayed flat in China's five major alumina production bases - Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Guizhou, and Guangxi - ranging between RMB 2,650 per tonne and RMB 2,790 per tonne.

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In the derivatives market, alumina futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange softened yesterday. The most-traded September contract slipped by 0.14 per cent during Thursday's daytime trading and declined by a further 0.25 per cent overnight, ending at RMB 2,836 per tonne as of 1 a.m. Friday.

On the supply side, a recent production cut, coupled with limited production volumes from newly commissioned capacity, temporarily tightened spot alumina availability in South China. This supported some alumina sellers in maintaining firm price offers.

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On the demand side, downstream primary aluminium smelters remained cautious in their procurement strategies amid ongoing supply uncertainties. Buying activity was limited yesterday, with Mysteel not hearing of any concluded transactions during the day.

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In the overseas market, one finalised deal was reported on April 23, with a 30,000-tonne cargo traded at USD 312 per tonne FOB India for late-May shipment.

Note: This news is published under a content and exchange agreement with Mysteel