China June output of copper and aluminium highest on record

Reuters reported that China's production of refined copper primary aluminum and its precursor raw material alumina hit monthly records in June making a strong finish to the first half of 2011.

The data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that refined copper production rose 8.7% on the month to 477,000 tonnes in June after posting a 3.3% monthly fall to 439,000 tonnes in May.

The June 2011 output was 12% rise from June 2010 and 1.5% higher than the previous record of 470,000 tonnes in March 2011. In the H1 of 2011 refined copper production rose 13.9% on the year to 2.644 million tonnes.

Mr Fu Bin an analyst at Jinrui Futures said that "The June refined copper output was a surprise. Some producers should have increased operational rates to meet their first-half production targets. State owned smelters typically set annual and semi annual production targets while privately owned smelters produced to order.”

Mr Fu said that 100,000 tonne per year copper production plant that used copper scrap as feedstock planned to start production in June and that may have added to the total output. Primary aluminum production in China, the world's top producer of the metal rose 3.6% on the month to a fourth consecutive record at 1.591 million tonnes in June up 13.3% from a year ago due to new capacity. In the H1 of 2011 aluminum output rose 5.6% on the year to 8.643 million tonnes.

Industry sources said that many smelters had started production with new capacity during the period from March to May 2011 and were expected to gradually increase production through August.

Record aluminum production also boosted demand for alumina, the main material for production of the metal. In June, alumina production inched up 0.8% on the month to a third consecutive record at 3.143 million tonnes up 29.3% from June 2010. In the H1 of 2011, alumina output surged 17.8% on the year to 17.486 million tonnes.