
According to the latest data revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s aluminium production in 2020 increased by 4.9 per cent year-on-year to stand at 37.08 million tonnes, attributing to capacity ramp-up by smelters to cash in on soaring prices. Output in December stood all-time high at 3.27 million tonnes even the price rally cooled. That was up by 2.8 per cent month-on-month from 3.182 million tonnes, surpassing the previously monthly record of 3.2 million tonnes in October 2020.

According to NBS data, China’s full-year aluminium output in 2020 beat the last annual peak of 35.802 million tonnes in 2018. Production dropped in 2019 for the first time in a decade.
Shanghai aluminium prices fell 4.2 per cent in December after hiking by 22.5 per cent over 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the prices remained well above the break-even levels for Chinese smelters.
CRU analyst Wan Ling said another 300,000 tonnes of annual aluminium smelting capacity was put into production in December at Inner Mongolia and the emerging smelting hub of Yunnan.
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