Post Buying Request

China Spot Alumina Slips Another Yuan 50/mt to Yuan 3,450/mt

The Platts China ex-works Shanxi daily spot alumina assessment lost more ground Wednesday, slipping another Yuan 50/mt ($7.50/mt) on the day to Yuan 3,450/mt ($520/mt) cash...

From: platts.comDate: 2017-11-23 06:40:08Views: 3710

The Platts China ex-works Shanxi daily spot alumina assessment lost more ground Wednesday, slipping another Yuan 50/mt ($7.50/mt) on the day to Yuan 3,450/mt ($520/mt) cash.

The current price also reflected a decline of Yuan 200/mt from last week, and was down Yuan 320/mt from last month.

Market sentiment weakened further as domestic metal prices fell below Yuan 15,000/mt, with market talk that top producer Shandong Hongqiao Group might not be curtailing its capacity this winter, sources said.

The front-month primary aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 14,890/mt on Wednesday, down from Yuan 15,295/mt last week, and also from Yuan 16,145/mt a month ago.

“There’s no trades, as both alumina and ingot prices are falling. Smelters are not buying as many expect prices to bottom out around Yuan 3,100-3,200/mt,” a Chinese trader said. “Hongqiao is saying they will lump winter cuts with their earlier unapproved capacity cuts of 2.68 million mt/year, and will consider that completed, and that’s pressuring the market.”

Shandong Hongqiao could not be reached for immediate comment.

Another Chinese said: “There’s also no cuts from Shanxi Luliang region. So far only Henan plants are cutting, which are not enough.”

A Henan refiner agreed prices continued on a downtrend, but said further downward movement would be limited by high costs and the Henan cuts.

A Shanxi refiner said prices were likely to test lower in the near term, but might rebound in January 2018.

“The government inspections on the cuts are scheduled for January, so we have to see what happens with Hongqiao then,” he said. “Term contract talks for next year should also have started this month, but not yet. So we must see how the talks go. If it’s stalled, then we might see more spot trades for alumina in January.”

share:

Top News

Sponsored links