China’s July alumina output grows 3% M-o-M to 6.94 Mt but daily production dips by 800 tonnes

In July 2022 (31 calendar days), China produced 6.94 million tonnes of metallurgical-grade alumina, which increased by 2.97 per cent month-on-month and 14.11 per cent over a year. But the daily average output in the same month stood slightly down by 0.36 per cent or 800 tonnes from 224,700 tonnes to 223,900 tonnes. The production capacity was 8,171.3 tonnes, while the domestic operating rates were 87 per cent.

In individual province like Shandong, alumina output was 2.12 million tonnes, flat from June 2022, attributable to tight supply of raw materials and high purchase prices, resulting in narrow profits for the refineries, due to which the operating rates rarely increased.

In Henan, July alumina output rose 6 per cent M-o-M to 738,000 tonnes, while the output in Shanxi grew 2 per cent to 1.798 million tonnes. Most enterprises there produced for the long-term orders and were unwilling to refine for spot transactions.

Guangxi also witnessed a rise of 6 per cent in alumina production during July to 1.07 million tonnes, with operating rates remaining at around 95 to 100 per cent. In Guizhou, the output stood at 467,000 tonnes, up by 3 per cent from June.

With the release of new capacity in Chongqing and Hebei, alumina output in those two provinces during July came in at 373,000 tonnes and 195,000 tonnes, respectively, up by 3 per cent and 11 per cent month-on-month. In Yunnan and Inner Mongolia, production was stable, standing at 136,000 and 42,000 tonnes.

In July, China imported around 100,000 tonnes of alumina, leading to a surplus stock of 103,000 tonnes in the month and total 578,000 tonnes during January-July. However, in August, the supply is estimated to change from huge surplus to tight pattern if an alumina refinery in Shanxi suspends its production (involving 3 million tonnes of capacity). This will gradually restore a balanced supply-demand scenario for this month.