Chinese alumina market buying interest in seaborne cargoes grew significantly this week following a steady appreciation of the yuan since Monday, with many hoping to lock in relatively cheaper material compared with the domestic market.
A higher volume of inquiries and deals over the course of the week took the benchmark alumina index on an uptrend since Tuesday.
Fastmarkets'
alumina index, fob Australia rose to $272.83 per tonne on Wednesday -
its highest since early September - following deals concluded at $290 per tonne cif China and $274 per tonne fob Australia.
The market reported another deal concluding at $275 per tonne for 30,000 tonnes, fob Australia on Thursday.
"We are negotiating with an international seller at a price around $275 per tonne as we consider this could save us some money compared with [Chinese] domestic material," one Chinese domestic alumina trader told Fastmarkets earlier on Thursday before the deal was reported.
Market sources said seaborne cargoes remain profitable at...