China's spot alumina prices have halted their recent uptrend on talk that Henan Wanji Aluminum and Chalco Shanxi plan to restart their idled refineries by the end of August, market participants said Friday.
Both refineries had shut earlier this month as heavy rain disrupted operations -- Wanji's 1.2 million mt/year plant due to red mud issues, and Chalco's 2 million mt/year plant on flooding and water supply issues.
Market talk was rife this week that the refineries will be restarted by end-August.
Wanji and Chalco sources told S&P Global Platts that preparations were underway to resume before September, but ramp up to full capacity "will take time".
The Platts ex-works Shanxi alumina price continued at Yuan 1,840/mt ($277/mt) full cash terms Friday, unchanged from Thursday, but up Yuan 70 on the week, and also up Yuan 150 from a month earlier.
In Henan province, tradable spot alumina also stood rangebound at Yuan 1,850-1,880/mt cash, with ex-works Guangxi prices pegged stable at Yuan 1,800-1,850/mt cash.
Offers continue to be indicated around Yuan 1,900/mt cash for both Henan and Shanxi, but actual trades remained lower. Prices are expected to stay rangebound at generally Yuan 1,800-1,850/mt in the near term, sources said.
A Henan refiner/consumer said he bought 20,000 mt of Shanxi alumina in the past week at Yuan 1,840/mt cash, to be delivered to Xinjiang in September.
"The market has stabilized since the talks of the restarts, and there's less support for prices now. But demand is expected to be steady, and some say there may be smelter restarts in the fourth quarter, so alumina prices won't fall back much either," a Northeast smelter source said.
Lower domestic aluminum prices this week have also braked alumina's recent rally, sources added.
On Friday, the front-month aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 12,505/mt, down from Yuan 12,740/mt last week, but up from Yuan 12,290/mt a month earlier.
