SMM, September 3:
Price review: As of this Thursday, the SMM alumina index stood at 2,679.18 yuan/mt, down 0.21 yuan/mt from last Thursday. Prices in Shandong were reported at 2,640-2,710 yuan/mt, flat from last Thursday; Henan at 2,680-2,740 yuan/mt, flat from last Thursday; Shanxi at 2,670-2,730 yuan/mt, flat from last Thursday; Guangxi at 2,580-2,630 yuan/mt, flat from last Thursday; Guizhou at 2,720-2,780 yuan/mt, flat from last Thursday.
Markets outside China: As of September 3, 2026, FOB Western Australia alumina prices stood at $350/mt, with ocean freight rates at $33.4/mt and the USD/CNY selling rate around 6.74. This translates to a domestic mainstream port selling price of approximately 2,998.23 yuan/mt, which is 322.05 yuan/mt above the alumina index price. Two overseas spot alumina transactions were reported this week, with details as follows:
(1) On August 31, 2026, 30,000 mt of spot alumina were traded at $379/mt FOB Indonesia for October shipment.
(2) On September 3, 2026, 30,000 mt of spot alumina were traded at $349/mt FOB Australia for October shipment.
Chinese market: According to SMM data, as of this Thursday, China's total built metallurgical-grade alumina capacity stood at 118.42 million mt/year, with operating capacity at 88.59 million mt/year. The national weekly alumina operating rate rose 0.68 percentage points WoW to 75.65%. Among regions, Shandong's weekly alumina operating rate rose 0.07 percentage points WoW to 89.21%; Shanxi's weekly alumina operating rate rose 2.8 percentage points WoW to 67.7%; Henan's weekly alumina operating rate rose 3.33 percentage points WoW to 59.87%; Guangxi's weekly alumina operating rate fell 1.39 percentage points WoW to 79.65%; Guizhou's weekly alumina operating rate fell 2.02 percentage points WoW to 81.32%.
In the spot market, two transactions were concluded this week. Xinjiang procured 10,000 mt of spot alumina at a delivered price of 2,970 yuan/mt. Guangxi procured 5,000 mt of spot alumina at an EXW price of 2,580 yuan/mt.
Spot alumina prices remained broadly stable this week. Influenced by futures fluctuations, prices held at current levels with limited overall movement, but the supply side continued to pressure the market. In terms of supply, China's weekly alumina production increased by 15,000 mt to 1.718 million mt. An alumina refinery in Shanxi began resuming production, and with some northern enterprises completing earlier small-scale maintenance, production recovered somewhat. In Guangxi, enterprises that had been under maintenance earlier have returned to normal levels, but a few enterprises in south China still made minor production adjustments. Overall, China's production continued to show growth. In markets outside China, Australian alumina transaction prices pulled back from around $360/mt to $350/mt, mainly because the earlier influx of cargoes into China has decreased, easing supply pressure outside China and prompting prices to pull back accordingly. In terms of inventory, China's total alumina inventory increased by 8,000 mt this week to 7.27 million mt. By segment: aluminum smelters' raw material inventory increased by 16,000 mt to 3.444 million mt, mainly because current prices are low and smelters continued to restock moderately; in-factory inventory at alumina refineries increased by 9,000 mt to 1.234 million mt, as plant inventories accumulated slightly due to the recovery in operations; port inventory decreased by 19,000 mt to 1.017 million mt, mainly due to increased cargo pick-up and destocking at ports. Looking ahead to next week, alumina operating capacity is expected to have further room for recovery, and prices will be constrained by futures movements, likely fluctuating around current levels with no clear directional change in the short term. In terms of inventory, with capacity continuing to recover, overall inventory is expected to edge up slightly next week.
[All data other than public information are processed by SMM based on public information, market communication, and SMM's internal database models, and are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making advice.]
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