Coronavirus outbreak providing short-term support to China's alumina market, sources say

China's alumina price is on an upward trend after many alumina refineries reduced production following transportation difficulties since the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak restricted their coal and bauxite supply, several sources told Fastmarkets on Monday February 10.

Despite a bullish sentiment in the market, some alumina analysts think the uptrend may not last long because China still has a lot of alumina inventory at its Lianyungang, Qingdao and Bayuquan ports and is continuing to import from overseas.
"We feel the uptrend is a short-term one because China has almost 660,000 tonnes of inventory in total in Lianyungang, Qingdao and Bayuquan, as of February 7. This may pressure the domestic price and prevent it from bouncing," an alumina analyst in Shanghai told Fastmarkets on February 10.
Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina metallurgical grade, ddp China remained at 2,380-2,500 yuan ($341-358) per tonne on Thursday February 6, unchanged from the week before due to China's extended holiday and no transactions last week.

"We heard offers as high as 2,600 yuan per tonne and producers in northern regions were increasing prices as well. It seems...

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