China’s daily aluminium output in April hit a 10-month high as smelters operating rates increase: NBS

According to the data shown by the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s aluminium production increased in April by 1.5 per cent over the year to stand at 2.97 million tonnes. The daily basis output in the said month hit a 10-month high as a rapid increase in primary aluminium prices after a coronavirus-driven collapse kept smelters’ operating rates high.

As per Reuters’ calculations, China’s daily basis aluminium output in April came in at 99,000 tonnes per day, highest since June 2019 and up from around 95,800 tonnes in the previous month.

Aluminium prices in China, which collapsed in February and March in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, rebounded strong in April, gaining 9 per cent since August 2017, after smelters cut supply and consumption at processing plants recovered. This rise in prices primarily drove the aluminium production for April in China, according to NBS.

According to CRU analyst Wan Ling, around 622,000 tonnes of annual capacity was shut down in the first four months of the year. But there have been no further cuts after April, said Wan Ling.

“I think smelters are not just breaking even, they are making money” at current price levels of around 12,600 yuan ($1,774.57) a tonne, Wan said.

China’s total aluminium output during January-April came in at 11.93 million tonnes, according to bureau, up 2.4 per cent year-on-year.

China’s output of 10 nonferrous metals including copper, aluminium, lead, zinc, and nickel rose 2.1 per cent month-on-month and 3.8 per cent year-on-year to come in at 4.93 million tonnes in April.