Primary aluminium output in China grows to 3.07 million tonnes in May; Operating rates up 0.2 percentage point

According to the data released by Shanghai Metals Market, China’s primary aluminium production in May grew nearly 1 per cent over the year to 3.07 million tonnes. Compared to the previous month, the output stood higher by 3.72 per cent. In April 2020, China’s primary aluminium production was 2.96 million tonnes.

As of May-end, there were 36.58 million tonnes among 41.23 million tonnes per year of existing primary aluminium capacity in operation, up 700,000 tonnes from a month ago. Operating rates across the smelters increased as well by 0.2 percentage point to 88.7 per cent as new and resumed capacities in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Sichuan ramped up.

During the first five months of 2020, China’s primary aluminium output totalled 15.01 million tonnes, an increase of more than 3 per cent from the corresponding period last year. Consumption shrank but slower than 5.5 per cent in the first four months of the year as inventories continued to fall.

China’s primary aluminium production in June is expected to grow 1.6 per cent to 2.98 million tonnes year-on-year, given the rise in new capacities in Yunnan, Sichuan and other regions.