There has been a significant rise in the number of Western Australian alumina cargoes imported into China over the past few weeks due to a widening arbitrage that has made it profitable to bring overseas material into the country.
Market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 14 that they have heard a number of negotiations taking place to bring cargoes of Australian alumina into China. The latest deal for Australian material concluded at $302 per tonne on a cif China, Bayuquan port basis. This is equivalent to around $277 per tonne fob Australia accounting for a $25 per tonne freight netback. The deal is the second Pacific cargo to be bought by a Chinese consumer in under a week. An earlier deal was concluded at $303 per tonne cif China on October 9. "I have received more inquiries from China after they came back from the week-long National Day Holiday [October 1-7], especially due to the widening arbitrage," an international alumina producer said. Fastmarkets benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia settled at $280.65 per tonne on October 11 and touched as low as $279.29 per tonne earlier that week, its...