Monthly Aluminum Market Report Feb 2020

1 Market Highlights

1.1 Chinese origin bauxite

Due to the Spring Festival holiday and novel coronavirus outbreak in February, the domestic bauxite mines in Shanxi, Henan and Southwest China were out production, resulting in tight inventory and firm prices for alumina bauxite mines.

1.2 Imported bauxite

In order to maintain alumina production, some inland alumina plants launched low-temperature production lines and turned to use imported bauxite, increasing the demand for imported bauxite. However, the price of imported bauxite fell as a whole due to the sharp decline of sea freight.

1.3 Aluminum fluoride

In early February, most aluminum fluoride plants in China were out of production, the supply decreased in the market and prices for the material soared.

1.4 Alumina

Due to the production suspension of mines and the stagnation of road transportation, most alumina plants in northern China cut production due to the shortage of raw material supply, which led to the increase of alumina price. However, there were few transactions in the spot market, and most buyers remained on the sidelines.

1.5 Aluminum hydroxide

As alumina prices increased, prices for aluminum hydroxide edged up this month, but most of the downstream consumers had not resumed production yet, so the demand remained weak.

1.6 Primary aluminum

Most of the downstream consumers of primary aluminum delayed the resumption of work, and the downstream demand was weak. This month, the price of primary aluminum remained low; the aluminum ingot inventory in primary aluminum plants was high, and the social inventory of aluminum ingot increased significantly.

1.7 Secondary aluminum alloy ingot

In February, affected by the outbreak of novel coronavirus epidemic, the producers of secondary aluminum alloy generally delayed the resumption of production. Most of the producers started to resume production in the middle and late February.Asian Metal Copyright Most of the producers started to resume production in the middle and late February.Asian Metal Copyright The demand for secondary aluminum alloy ingot from downstream die-casting plants was weak.
.Asian Metal Copyright This month, the price of primary aluminum remained low; the aluminum ingot inventory in primary aluminum plants was high, and the social inventory of aluminum ingot increased significantly.Asian Metal Copyright