WEEKLY: Chinese alumina prices hold flat as supply improves

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China's alumina prices held broadly steady during May 1-7 after a brief uptick seen ahead of the May Day holiday over May 1-5, as cautious sentiment prevailed in the spot market amid signs of loosening supply following temporary pre-holiday tightness.

According to Mysteel's price assessment, the national average spot price for smelter-grade alumina with a minimum purity of 98.6 per cent stood at Yuan 2,705/tonne ($398.1/t) on May 7, unchanged from a week earlier.

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During and after the five-day holiday break, many alumina buyers stayed on the sidelines as earlier supply tightness – caused by production cuts in Guangxi – began to ease. The improvement in availability was supported by output from newly commissioned capacity and increased imports.

On the supply side, alumina production showed signs of recovery. Over May 1-7, output of metallurgical-grade alumina among the 44 producers under Mysteel's tracking rose by 0.9 per cent on week to 1.77 million tonnes, according to Mysteel's survey. This followed consecutive weekly declines in the previous two weeks, Mysteel Global noted.

In particular, production from new capacity in Guangxi that came online last month has started to be ramped up, alleviating the regional supply tightness that had emerged prior to the holiday due to earlier curtailments.

Meanwhile, inventory pressure continued to build. As of May 7, total alumina stocks across China's 10 major ports, 44 alumina refiners, 89 primary aluminium smelters, and rail yards or in-transit tracked by Mysteel had climbed by 0.74 per cent from a week earlier to reach a fresh record high of 5.98 million tonnes, Mysteel's survey showed. 

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The increase was largely driven by a surge in portside inventories following fresh arrivals of imported alumina. Stocks at the 10 major ports jumped by 17 per cent on week to 448,000 tonnes, the highest level since late May 2022.

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