China’s domestic metallurgical-grade alumina production in November’22 reflects 6% dip M-o-M

China’s domestic metallurgical-grade alumina production in November 2022 (30 calendar days) was 6.29 million tonnes, down by 5.84 per cent month-on-month from 6.68 million tonnes but up by 3.11 per cent year-on-year from 6.1 million tonnes, found the Shanghai Metals Market data.

Average daily output edged 2.60 per cent lower M-o-M from 215,400 tonnes to 209,800 tonnes, but stood 3.35 per cent higher on the year than 203,000 tonnes, learned SMM.

In November, China’s domestic production capacity of alumina was 76.6 million tonnes, with operating rates at 79 per cent versus 81.1 per cent in the previous month.

From January to November 2022, China produced 71.26 million tonnes of alumina, which reflected an increase of 8.30 per cent from 65.8 million tonnes during the same period last year.

China’s net imports of alumina in November are estimated at 150,000 tonnes, with a slight surplus of 24,000 tonnes in the said month and about 1.74 million tonnes during January-November.

The decline in China’s monthly production in November could be attributed to poor operations at refineries. Affected by the pandemic and poor transportation, the operating rates of refineries in Shanxi and Henan were low in the first ten days of November; as a result, the production did not increase over the month. In addition, Shanxi and Shandong issued a severe pollution weather warning, due to which the roasting process of alumina plants in those two provinces was suspended for nearly a week.

In southwest China, a large refinery in Guangxi halted production for nearly a week due to equipment failure at the end of November, resulting in an output decline of almost 40,000 tonnes. Some enterprises in Guizhou reduced output due to poor profits as alumina prices shrank in November.

In December, new production capacity is expected to come into operation, resulting in increased output in 31 calendar days to about 6.5 million tonnes.