Futures Market: Overnight, the most-traded al2509 futures contract opened at RMB 2,707 per tonne, with a high of RMB 2,707 per tonne, a low of RMB 2,686 per tonne, and closed at RMB 2,700 per tonne, down RMB 7 per tonne or 0.24 per cent, with open interest at 299,000 lots.
Ore: As of May 7, the SMM Import Bauxite Index stood at USD 78.24 per tonne, down USD 0.32 per tonne from the previous trading day, mainly due to some lower quotes in the market. Meanwhile, the buyer's target price was below USD 75 per tonne, with some enterprises reporting target prices below USD 70 per tonne.
The SMM Guinea Bauxite CIF average price was reported at USD 77 per tonne, unchanged from the previous trading day. The SMM Australia Low-Temperature Bauxite CIF average price was at USD 80 per tonne, also unchanged, while the SMM Australia High-Temperature Bauxite CIF average price was at USD 72 per tonne, unchanged as well.
Industry News:
The white paper noted that Odisha holds 35 per cent of India's iron ore reserves, 59 per cent of its bauxite reserves, and abundant coal resources, but the current level of development of these resources is far from adequate, with issues such as institutional barriers, resource outflows, and missed historical opportunities.
The report proposed a phased reform path: advancing regulatory reforms in the short term, building mineral corridors and manufacturing clusters in the medium term, and creating industrial hubs for green aluminium, steel, and critical minerals in the long term.
Experts noted that fully unlocking the potential of bauxite could drive the development of over 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, create 2.4 million jobs, and attract billions of dollars in investment.
The traditional Bayer process struggles to efficiently process bauxite with high silica content, but IB2 has developed a process to neutralize silicon and sulphur through a decade of R&D, allowing such ores to be refined into alumina using the Bayer process.
In 2023, IB2 signed a 22-year cooperation agreement with China's Liulin Senze Coal & Aluminium Company to advance the implementation of this technology. The first set of industrial-scale equipment at the refinery is expected to commence production in July 2025.
Spot-Futures Price Spread Daily Report: According to SMM data, on May 7, the SMM Alumina Index had a premium of RM 202 per tonne against the latest transaction price of the most-traded contract at 11:30 a.m.
Warrant Daily Report: On May 7, the total registered alumina warrants decreased by 323 tonnes from the previous trading day to 259,700 tonnes. In Shandong, the total registered alumina warrants remained unchanged from the previous trading day at 601 tonnes.
In Henan, the total registered alumina warrants decreased by 1,200 tonnes from the previous trading day to 3,001 tonnes.
In Guangxi, the total registered alumina warrants decreased by 2,701 tonnes from the previous trading day to 27,900 tonnes.
In Gansu, the total registered alumina warrants decreased by 1,198 tonnes from the previous trading day to 16,800 tonnes. In Xinjiang, the total registered alumina warrants increased by 4,776 tonnes from the previous trading day to 211,400 tonnes.
Overseas Market: As of May 7, 2025, the FOB Western Australia alumina price was USD 348 per tonne, with an ocean freight rate of USD 20.50 per tonne. The USD/CNY exchange rate selling price hovered around 7.24. This price translates to approximately RMB 3,097 per tonne at major domestic ports, which is RMB 201 per tonne higher than the domestic alumina price. The alumina import window remained closed.
Summary: With the commissioning of new capacity and the resumption of production from maintenance, the operating capacity of alumina has rebounded significantly. In the final week before the holiday, the weekly operating capacity increased by 3.48 million tonne per year on a WoW basis.
In the short term, some alumina refineries have plans for maintenance and production cuts, but at the same time, new alumina capacity will further ramp up production, and the operating capacity of alumina may exhibit slight fluctuations.
On the cost side, caustic soda prices have remained largely stable overall, while bauxite prices have decreased, leading to a pullback in alumina costs and alleviating the loss pressure on alumina refineries.
Overall, the tightening of spot alumina supplies caused by the concentration of maintenance and production cuts in the early stage is expected to ease, and short-term prices are expected to fluctuate.
Note: This article has been issued by SMM and has been published by AL Circle with its original information without any modifications or edits to the core subject/data.
Responses
