China records lowest prebaked anode export rate amidst heightened aluminium production

The data gathered in customs said that in June 2022, China witnessed a decrease of 37.95 per cent from the last month and 16.48 per cent from the same time span the previous year to close its export volume of prebaked anodes at 131,000 tonnes, which is still the lowest in the year. Yet, the customs also notified that its export price per unit for prebaked anode has elevated to a record number of US$1,316.67 per tonne. In 2022, the total exports by China have accumulated at 1,017,300 tonnes, which records a year-on-year volume rise of 26.69 per cent.

Since there has been no news of obstruction in the daily activities of the international aluminium factories, it can be well deciphered that this crunch in volume has been orchestrated by the delayed cycles of ship and logistics. The prebaked anodes originating from China were mainly exported to western countries like Canada, Norway and Middle Eastern regions comprising the United Arab Emirates. China's export to Malaysia lowered in June.

The total export volume of prebaked anodes in June plunged by 80,300 tonnes from the previous month of May. Due to the protect-the-environment frenzy and the limited number of days in June, the domestic output of prebaked anode was quite disappointing as it dipped down by 12,300 tonnes to 1,867,700 tonnes, portraying the increasing demand for prebaked anode due to the augmented domestic aluminium production rate.

As per the data from SMM, the maximum of carbon producers generated only a definite amount of prebaked anode they were pre-ordered for, therefore inducing no change in downstream aluminium plants' production capacity. It is being speculated that the requirement for prebaked anodes will increase shortly, further stabilising the export volume in July.