China Shanxi Spot Alumina Price Drops Yuan 20/mt to Yuan 2,590/mt

The China ex-works Shanxi daily spot alumina assessment closed last Friday at Yuan 2,590/mt ($381/mt) full cash terms, down Yuan 20/mt from Thursday and down Yuan 30/mt from a week ago. The current price also reflected a decline of Yuan 90/mt on the month.

Offers have lowered Friday on prevailing weak market sentiment, as talks of smelter cuts continued, sources said.

Xinjiang smelter cuts are expected to be confirmed and completed by July 20.

Shandong authorities are expected to step up pressure on Xinfa and Hongqiao groups for further cuts.

The National Development and Reform Commission called for a meeting with affected smelters last Thursday to review progress on supply-side reforms, and Henan provincial government announced plans to cut 500,000 mt/year of smelter capacity in the region by end-2018.

Last Friday, a 50,000 mt trade was heard done at Yuan 2,540-2,550/mt cash ex-works Henan between a Northwest China smelter and Henan refiner, but could not be confirmed as yet.

Several market participants expressed doubt that sellers would accept levels as low as Yuan 2,550/mt, but all agreed prices remained on the downtrend as offers have lowered.

A Shanxi refiner put the bid-ask spread at Yuan 2,550-2,650/mt last Friday, while a Henan refiner placed it at Yuan 2,500-2,680/mt.

A second Henan refiner put the current minimum tradeable level at Yuan 2,600/mt.

Two Chinese smelters, meanwhile, put tradeable Shanxi/Henan prices at Yuan 2,550-2,600/mt and Yuan 2,550-2,620/mt, respectively, depending on individual buy-sell positions, they said.

Last Friday, the front-month aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 14,055/mt, up from Yuan 13,840/mt last week, and also from Yuan 13,610/mt a month ago.