According to Mysteel's daily assessment, the national average spot price for smelter-grade alumina with a purity above 98.6 per cent slid by RMB 5 per tonne (USD 0.7 per tonne) from Monday to RMB 2,940 per tonne on Tuesday. This marked the 30th consecutive working-day decline.
The drop mainly reflected weaker quotations throughout China's five key alumina production regions. Prices for the same grade in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region all fell by RMB 5 per tonne from Monday, averaging between RMB 2,805 per tonne and RMB 3,090 per tonne, Mysteel's data showed. In particular, the assessed price of RMB 2,805 per tonne in Shandong was the lowest in more than two years, Mysteel Global noted.
To ease inventory and sales pressure, alumina sellers continued to trim offers, further squeezing producers' profit margins, market sources noted. With margins narrowing, some refiners are now facing growing operational stress, they warned.
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