Alumina supply surplus weighed heavily on its prices throughout September. By September 30, the national average price of metallurgical-grade alumina with more than 98.6 per cent purity fell by a marked 6.5 per cent from a month earlier to RMB 3,010 per tonne (USD 422 per tonne), continuing a downward trend that began on September 2, Mysteel's daily price assessment showed.
Although alumina output saw a slight retreat in the past month, the overall market supply remained at a high level. Total production of smelter-grade alumina among the 44 Chinese producers regularly tracked by Mysteel dropped by 1.7 per cent on month to 7.7 million tonnes in September, while the figure was still 12.7 per cent higher on year and marked the second-highest monthly output since the survey began in January 2017, Mysteel Global noted.
Most alumina producers maintained steady operations in September, supported mainly by the positive, albeit lower, profit margins. Only a few in Guangxi and Hebei temporarily cut output for routine calcinator maintenance, according to the report.
Looking ahead, alumina output is expected to stay largely stable in October, and many producers have maintained normal production during the just-past National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday over October 1-8, the report said.
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