NBS: China's primary aluminium output up 1.7 per cent Y-o-Y in May

China's primary aluminium output rose by 1.7 per cent on year to 3.89 million tonnes in May, according to the latest data released on June 16 by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

May's output marked a 0.5 per cent uptick from the previous month, Mysteel Global's calculation based on the NBS data showed.

On a per-day basis, national primary aluminium output averaged 125,484 tonnes last month, up by 1.6 per cent from a year earlier but down by 2.7 per cent from April, Mysteel Global also calculated.

The NBS figure for May was broadly in line with Mysteel's survey, which showed that the 89 Chinese primary aluminium smelters under its tracking produced 3.87 million tonnes last month, up 3.3 per cent on year.

Last month's primary aluminium production reflected stable operations at most smelters and modest growth that came from newly commissioned capacity in North China and the resumption of previously suspended capacity in Northwest China, according to market analysts.  

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On the pricing side, domestic primary aluminium prices weakened during the month despite firmer international prices driven by global supply disruptions, particularly in the Middle East. In China, persistent inventory pressure weighed on primary aluminium prices.

Mysteel assessed the national average price of primary aluminium ingots with a minimum purity of 99.7 per cent at RMB 24,260.4 per tonne (USD 3,588.6 per tonne) in May, down 1.4 per cent from April.

Although domestic inventories began to decline last month, overall stock levels remained elevated. According to Mysteel's survey, primary aluminium inventories held in warehouses across 16 major cities totalled 1.4 million tonnes at the end of the month, down by 3.3 per cent from April and reversing the 3.7 per cent increase recorded during April from March. However, the end-May stock level was still up sharply by 169.9 per cent from the same month last year.

During the first five months, China produced 19.22 million tonnes of primary aluminium, up 3.5 per cent from the January-May 2025 period, the NBS data showed.

Note: This article has been issued by Mysteel and has been published by AL Circle with its original information without any modifications or edits to the core subject/data.