China’s daily primary aluminium production slipped 3% M-o-M in July

According to the National Bureau of Statistics survey, China’s daily production of primary aluminium fell in July month-on-month. Output averaged around 96,000 tonnes, down 3,000 tonnes or 3 per cent from 99,000 tonnes in June.

This decline in daily output could be attributed to the production cut at some of the Chinese aluminium smelters in July. According to the research house Antaike, around 220,000 tonnes of annual production was cut in July, including China Zhongwang Holding’s smelter in the northeast province of Liaoning.

Jackie Wang, an aluminium consultant at CRU in Beijing, agreed that Zhongwang’s production cut had the biggest impact last month. Also, smelter ramp-up in the southwest Guangxi region progressed slower than expected, said the consultant further.

“Basically there are closures and slow ramp-ups, so the consequence is we see some lower daily smelting output,” Wang said.

However, China’s total aluminium production in July stood 0.2 per cent higher from June, amounting to 2.98 million tonnes. It was the second monthly-highest on record on the bureau’s website after 3.05 million tonnes in December. But on a yearly basis, the number was 2 per cent down, according to the bureau.

Production costs fell 4 per cent month-on-month to an average of RMB 13,888 per tonne in July as alumina prices slumped, said Antaike. Shanghai aluminium prices edged up 0.4% over July.