Growing alumina supply and a retreating Chinese aluminium futures price are weighing on the domestic Chinese alumina price and could cause it to drop further, sources told Fastmarkets at a seminar held by the Qianhai Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday September 18 in Shanghai.
Market participants speaking to Fastmarkets on the sidelines of the event were mostly bearish on the Chinese alumina price in the coming days, citing too much supply and low buying interest after most completed their restocking at the beginning of August. "Other than some quantity [bought] by East Hope due to its own alumina refinery disruption, there were no transactions heard at all," an alumina trader in northern China said. East Hope, an aluminium producer in China, was reported to have a shortfall of 10,000-20,000 tonnes of alumina in September due to a reduction of alumina production at its own refinery. "Some consumers who needed to restock already booked it at the beginning of August when the price touched [the annual low], so now - apart from some urgent cases - aluminum producers have no interest to buy more," a second alumina trader in Shanghai. Fastmarkets assessed the alumina metallurgical grade,...