Monthly Magnesium Market Report Aug 2026
2026-09-14 08:16:35 【Print】
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The August magnesium complex displayed a familiar off-season pattern: subdued downstream demand, cautious procurement, cost-floor resistance, and only intermittent price recoveries. Beneath the surface, however, divergent dynamics across ingot, powder, and alloy markets underscored the fragile balance between weak consumption and firm input costs.
From early to late August, the Chinese magnesium ingot market lacked momentum amid weakening off-season demand, with most buyers limiting purchases to cautious, need-based volumes. Firm costs and an inverted price-cost relationship on the supplier side prevented any meaningful downward breach, keeping prices within a narrow fluctuation band and anchoring the lower end near RMB15,800/t. Against this backdrop, mainstream magnesium ingot prices moved only marginally, with the overall range confined to RMB200/t (USD29/t) through 27 August. Toward the final days of the month, mounting upward pressure from coal and ferrosilicon prices prompted suppliers to edge their offers higher, lending modest support to a tentative recovery. Prevailing prices subsequently rebounded by RMB200/t (USD29/t) to RMB15,900–16,200/t (USD2,373-2,417/t).
In the early-to-middle part of the week, persistent sluggishness in downstream chemical and steel demand dampened buying interest in the Chinese magnesium powder market. With upstream magnesium ingot prices softening and suppliers eager to stimulate sales, price concessions became acceptable, pulling powder prices down by RMB200/t (USD29/t). In the closing days of the month, however, the rebound in ingot values triggered a corresponding RMB150/t (USD22/t) recovery in magnesium powder prices.
From early August through 27 August, the magnesium alloy AZ91D market struggled under the weight of weak die-casting and 3C demand, compounded by an oversupplied alloy segment. Transactions were sparse and prices drifted slightly lower. In the final days of August, the rebound in ingot prices lifted AZ91D alloy ingot prices by RMB150/t (USD22/t). Even so, lacklustre demand kept the market mired in slack trading activity.
Weakening off-season demand also weighed on the Chinese magnesium ingot export market, where buying activity remained limited and mainstream export prices fluctuated within a USD10/t band in the first half of August. As foreign demand remained persistently slow and domestic prices softened, export quotations fell by USD20/t in the third week of August. Most overseas buyers adopted a cautious stance. By late August, rising domestic prices and a weakening exchange rate for US dollar against RMB combined to push export prices up by USD20/t.
Dragged down by slow foreign demand for magnesium powder and softening domestic prices, Chinese export prices maintained a softening bias through 27 August, with many domestic plants operating at low rates due to a lack of concluded deals. Entering late August, the rebound in the domestic market prompted export prices to recover by USD20/t, although the export arena continued to see only rare transactions.
From early to late August, mainstream Chinese export prices for magnesium alloy ingot AZ91D edged down by USD30/t, tracking the decline in the domestic market. Slow demand kept transactions slack, and most Chinese plants maintained low operation rates in response to weakening consumption. In the last several days of the month, the domestic price rebound translated into a USD20/t increase in export prices. Nevertheless, with demand remaining persistently slow, the export market continued to record only sporadic deals.
