China's Secondary Aluminum Ingot Inventory Drops by 1,169 mt in Major Consumption Areas

Today, SHFE aluminum futures saw a slight correction, and the transaction atmosphere in the central China market was mainly sluggish. Downstream processing enterprises' buying sentiment was low, and recently traders have been selling a large number of low-priced warrants, leading to ample market supply; suppliers were selling in a price-collapse-like manner, and their willingness to hold prices firm was weak. Ultimately, the actual transaction price range in the central China market was around a discount of 20-50 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum July contract, with prices showing a weakening trend.

Alcoa has signed a gas offtake agreement with Woodside Energy to supply a total of 31.1 petajoules of natural gas to its Western Australian alumina refineries from 2027 to 2030. The agreement strengthens near-term energy security for Alcoa's operations while supporting its long-term energy strategy, including gas supply beyond 2030 and greater integration of renewable energy. Alcoa employs around 4,000 people in Western Australia, and its gas-powered alumina refineries are among the lowest-carbon alumina refineries globally. The alumina produced at these facilities is used as the primary raw material for aluminium production.

The UK Government is strengthening its Critical Minerals Strategy by investing in domestic extraction, processing, recycling and supply chain development to enhance resource security and economic resilience. The Aluminum Federation (ALFED) welcomed the move, noting that aluminum was officially designated as both a Critical Mineral and a Growth Mineral in 2024 under the UK's Vision 2035 framework. ALFED urged policymakers to place greater emphasis on aluminum recycling, remelting, sorting and supply security advanced processing to strengthen domestic supply chains and promote circular manufacturing. The federation highlighted that recycled aluminum can be reused indefinitely while requiring only around 5% of the energy needed to produce primary aluminum, making it a key material for low-carbon manufacturing and long-ter.