China's alumina import prices stood steady this week as industry sources said there was minimal spot trade seen in the market. Alumina import prices continued to be indicated at $410-430/mt CIF China, unchanged from last week. Offers were also heard steady at $430-440/mt CIF but "nothing was reported done this week as far as we know," a Chinese trader said.

A Beijing Antaike analyst said "there are very, very few spot trades this week...the market is very quiet. He added: "Import prices have not changed and even domestic prices are steady."

China's non-Chalco domestic alumina prices continued at around Yuan 3,900/mt ($504) ex-plant this week, unchanged from last week. Chalco lifted its alumina price effective Wednesday, March 21, to Yuan 3,900/mt from a previous Yuan 3,600/mt.

"The Chalco price change will have little impact on the market as people have been expecting it for a while, since alumina prices have been rising for the past weeks," the Antaike analyst said. "The new Chalco price is also the same as non-Chalco materials, so the domestic market levels will not be much affected," he added.

A source from smelter Zouping Aluminium agreed. "The Chalco price will have little impact, especially from smelters like us. We signed term contracts earlier in the year, so the change will not affect us...we buy very little from spot." The source also noted that spot trade had slowed in China as more smelters have turned to term contracts this year to avoid volatile spot prices.

An official from China Minmetals, the top alumina importer in the country, said: "We have also seen minimal spot interest this week and most indications for prices are unchanged. Our own port prices for imported alumina are also holding steady at Yuan 4,200/mt." He added: "Spot demand has slowed, but spot supply is tight, so we believe that will support prices for a while. Prices are unlikely to fall back much in the first half of this year, though it is hard to project for the second half."