Chinese spot domestic alumina prices steady; import trade lacking

Singapore 12 Sep 2007 - Chinese spot domestic alumina prices remained steady this week, at about Yuan 3,400/mt ($453) ex-plant for non-Chalco materials, unchanged from the past two weeks, local industry sources said Wednesday. Chalco, however, continued to offer at Yuan 3,900/mt. "There's no change as far as we know. We've not heard of any spot trades this week, but we did hear domestic offers are still around Yuan 3,400/mt," an analyst from Beijing Antaike said. "We've also not heard much about alumina this week, and indications are that prices have not changed," an official from major importer China Minmetals added. An official from smelter Yunnan Aluminium concurred that the market levels are about Yuan 3,400/mt ex-plant now, with an official from Chinese non-Chalco alumina major Weiqiao Aluminium also quoting Yuan 3,400/mt. Meanwhile, there were no offers or deals reported for imported alumina this week, the sources said. Indications last week stood at $360-370/mt CIF according to sources at the time. "We've not heard of any offers or deals done for imported alumina, so the levels are likely unchanged," the Minmetals official said. "There's very little interest to import on a spot basis since domestic supply is abundant," the Yunnan smelter official added. Platts assessed alumina import prices to China for Australian materials at $360-370/mt CIF for the week of September 10-14, unchanged from a week ago.