China’s primary aluminium production in August declines by 3.48% Y-o-Y and 1.96% M-o-M

According to Shanghai Metals Market, China’s primary aluminium production in August came in at 3.01 million tonnes after declining 3.48 per cent year-on-year and 1.96 per cent month-on-month. This year-on-year and month-on-drop in domestic production could be attributed to the accidents in some smelters in Shandong and Xinjiang, resulting in production disruption.

China’s total primary aluminium production from January-August also stood lower by 1.89 per cent year-on-year to 23.57 million tonnes, found SMM survey.

Commissioning of new or recovered capacity remained slow. As of the end of August, primary aluminium capacity in operation declined to 34.9 million tonnes. Suspended and idling capacity stood at 5.8 million tonnes. Average operating rates across smelters also dropped by 4.7 percentage points from a month earlier and hovered at 85.8 per cent by the end of August.

For September, the output is expected to decline even further by 2.76 per cent year-on-year to come in at 2.92 million tonnes. However, the capacity in operating may increase at the end of September on capacity additions and resumption, learned SMM.