Proposal to amend frequency of fused alumina, refractory-grade bauxite price assessments

Fastmarkets proposes to amend the pricing frequency of its three fused alumina price assessments and four refractory-grade bauxite prices to once a month from their current fortnightly basis.

The proposal follows feedback from market participants who are seeing less spot liquidity in these two kinds of refractory materials, given that most cargoes are sold through long-term contracts and the fact that global buyers have become inactive in the spot market amid weak demand from the steel industry.

The proposed new specifications are listed below, with the proposed amendments in italics:

MB-ALU-0006 – Alumina, fused brown, min 95% Al2O3, refractory sized (0-6mm), fob China, $/tonne
Quality: Min 95% Al2O3. Crushed, sized between 0-1mm, 1-3mm, 3-5mm, generally in one-tonne big bag
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: fob China
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of the month, by 4pm, London

MB-ALU-0008 – Alumina, fused brown, min 95% Al2O3, FEPA F8-220 grit, fob China, $/tonne
Quality: Min 95% Al2O3. Crushed, FEPA size
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: FOB China
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of the month, by 4pm, London

MB-ALU-0009 – Alumina, fused white, 25kg bags, cif Europe, €/tonne

Quality: Min 95% Al2O3, 0.4% NA2O. Crushed, sized between 0-1mm, 1-3mm, 3-5mm, in 25kg bag
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: CIF Europe
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of the month, by 4pm, London

MB-BX-0010 – Bauxite, refractory-grade, 85%/2.0/3.15-3.2 (0-6mm), fob Xingang, $/tonne
Quality: Min 85% Al2O3, 2.0% iron, 3.15-3.2 bulk density. Crushed, sized between 0-1mm, 1-3mm, 3-5mm
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: FOB Xingang
Timing: Spot contract
Unit: USD/tonne
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of the month, by 4pm, London
Notes: Normally in 1-tonne big bag

MB-BX-0011 – Bauxite, refractory-grade, 86%/2.0/3.15-3.2 (0-6mm), fob Xingang, $/tonne
Quality: Min 86% Al2O3, 2.0% iron, 3.15-3.2 bulk density. Crushed, sized between 0-1mm, 1-3mm, 3-5mm
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: FOB Xingang
Timing: Spot contract
Unit: USD/tonne
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of the month, by 4pm, London
Notes: Normally in 1-tonne big bag

MB-BX-0012 – Bauxite, refractory-grade, 87%/2.0/3.15-3.2 (0-6mm), fob Xingang, $/tonne
Quality: Min 87% Al2O3, 2.0% iron, 3.15-3.2 bulk density. Crushed, sized between 0-1mm, 1-3mm, 3-5mm
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: FOB Xingang
Timing: Spot contract
Unit: USD/tonne
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of the month, by 4pm, London
Notes: Normally in 1-tonne big bag

MB-BX-0013 – Bauxite, refractory-grade, 88%/2.0/3.15-3.2 (0-6mm), fob Xingang, $/tonne
Quality: Min 87% Al2O3, 2.0% iron, 3.15-3.2 bulk density. Crushed, sized between 0-1mm, 1-3mm, 3-5mm
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: FOB Xingang
Timing: Spot contract
Unit: USD/tonne
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of the month, by 4pm, London
Notes: Normally in 1-tonne big bag

These prices are part of the Fastmarkets industrial minerals package.

The consultation period for this proposed amendment starts from Tuesday March 19 and will end on Tuesday April 16. The amendment will then take place, subject to market feedback, on Thursday April 25.

To provide feedback on this proposal, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to any of these prices, please contact Ruby Liu by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Ruby Liu, re: Fused alumina and refractory-grade bauxite price assessments.”

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.

What to read next
The publication of the affected prices was delayed for 50 minutes. The following indices were published late: MB-MNO-0001 Manganese ore high grade index, cif Tianjin, $ per dmtu MB-MNO-0002 Manganese ore semi carbonate index, 36.5% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth, $/dmtu MB-MNO-0003 Manganese ore semi carbonate index, 36.5% Mn, cif Tianjin, $/dmtu These prices are a part of the […]
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the specifications of its weekly price assessment for MB-STE-0037 steel rebar domestic exw Italy to better reflect the material traded in the market.
The purpose of this review is to ensure that the index continues to accurately reflect prevailing market conditions. We welcome feedback from industry participants on potential amendments to the base specification. This consultation, which is open until August 9, 2025 seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in […]
Fastmarkets has launched MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonne on July 9 due to an expected increase in Indonesia-origin aluminium exports. MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonneQuality: P1020A or 99.7 % Minimum Al purity (Si 0.10% max, Fe 0.20% max) in line with LME specifications. Ingot, T-bar, sowQuantity: Min 500 tonnesLocation: FOB IndonesiaTiming: […]
Information came to light that mill buying offers had been adjusted for July following Fastmarkets’ settlement of these prices on that date, leading to an incorrect published assessment for the following grades: MB-STE-0789 Steel scrap No1 heavy melting, consumer buying price, fob Montreal, Canadian $/net ton was previously published at C$245 ($179.41) per net ton, a C$10 […]
Fastmarkets has corrected its daily AG-PLM-0012 refined bleached deodorised (RBD) palm olein, fob Indonesia price assessment, which was published incorrectly on July 7 due to an input error.