NBS: China's Jan-Oct primary aluminium output rises 2 per cent Y-o-Y

Most primary aluminium smelters continued steady operations in October, supported by a further improvement in profitability across the domestic industry, which climbed to a more than 3.5-year high, market watchers observed.

Mysteel's survey showed that the average profit margin among the same 89 smelters jumped by 8.4 per cent from the previous month to RMB 5,255 per tonne (USD740.5 per tonne), the highest level since March 2022.

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Improved profits were primarily driven by rising primary prices and reduced production costs. According to Mysteel's price assessment, the national average price for primary aluminium ingots with a purity above 99.7 per cent increased by 1.2 per cent from September to RMB 21,026 per tonne, including the 13 per cent VAT, in October.

On the cost front, the weighted average complete production cost for China's primary aluminium industry fell by RMB 147 per tonne on a month-to-month basis to RMB 15,771 per tonne, Mysteel's survey found.

The cost reduction was largely the result of the continued decline in alumina prices throughout October. The weighted average national price assessed by Mysteel for smelter-grade alumina with a more than 98.6 per cent purity decreased by another 5per cent from a month earlier to RMB 2,920 per tonne, easing the cost pressures of primary aluminium producers.

Moreover, the NBS data showed that China's combined production of ten major non-ferrous metals – including aluminium, copper, zinc, and lead – increased by 3.1per cent on year to 68.14 million tonnes during the first ten months of 2025. In October, output of these metals reached 6.95 million tonnes, largely unchanged from September and higher by 2.9 per cent from a year ago.

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Note: This news is published under a content and exchange agreement with Mysteel