China’s primary aluminium production grows 2.42% year-on-year in June: SMM survey

According to Shanghai Metals Market survey, China’s primary aluminium production in June totalled 3 million tonnes, up 2.42 per cent year-on-year. As of June-end, there were 36.76 million tonnes of primary aluminium capacity in operation out of the existing 41.23 million tonnes per year total capacity.

Data indicates that China’s primary aluminium capacity in operation was up by 180,000 tonnes month-on-month in June. Operating rates across Chinese primary aluminium producers also stood higher by 0.3 percentage point to stand at 89 per cent on improved margins that encouraged newly-commissioned and resumed capacities to ramp-up.

During the first six months of 2020 (January-June), China’s primary aluminium output amounted to 18.01 million tonnes, up 2.93 per cent year-on-year. Consumption dipped 0.18 per cent to 17.69 million tonnes, smaller than the decline of 2.39 per cent during the January-to-May period, owing to rebound in downstream demand.

In July, China’s primary aluminium production is expected to record a rise of 1.79 per cent to stand at 3.12 million tonnes. New capacities in Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, and other regions will continue to ramp up in July, while net imports are expected to increase slightly from June.