BEIJING: China’s primary aluminium output in September rose 5.3% compared with a year earlier, data released on Wednesday showed, underpinned by resilient demand and low inventories of the light metal.
The world’s top aluminium producer churned out 3.58 million metric tons of primary aluminium last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
Production in September jumped in the southwestern Yunnan province, China’s fourth-biggest aluminium-producing region, as smelters fully ramped up operations and hydropower supply improved from late June.
During the same time a year earlier, low rainfall and water levels led smelters in the hydropower-dependent region to cut production and reduce 2 million tons if capacity from then through the first half of this year.
Despite rising output, stocks of the metal have remained low, thanks largely to resilient domestic demand from the solar and other power sectors, analysts at Macquarie said in a note.
Aluminium stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended September at 79,194 tons, the lowest since March 2019, and down 66% from a year earlier.
Thin supply and robust demand boosted prices, with the most-traded aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rallying to a 15-month peak in late September.
The higher prices then pushed up the average profit by 805 yuan a ton, or nearly 28%, from the previous month, according to a survey by information provider Mysteel.
Aluminium rises as traders square positions ahead of quarter-end, stocks decline
September’s data showed daily aluminium output was 119,333 tons, compared with 116,129 tons in the previous month, according to a Reuters calculation.
Primary aluminium output totalled 30.81 million tons in the first nine months of 2023, up 3.3% from the corresponding period in 2022, the NBS data showed.
The elevated domestic prices also led to a 63.2% year-on-year increase in aluminium imports last month, customs data showed on Wednesday.
China imported 331,716 metric tons of unwrought aluminium and products, including primary metal and unwrought, alloyed aluminium last month. January-September imports totalled 2.04 million tons, up 21.5% from the same period last year.
Imports of bauxite, a key raw material for aluminium, totalled 10.02 million tons last month, up 23.1% from the previous year, the customs data showed.
The first nine months saw bauxite imports up rise 12.8% on-year to 106.6 million tons.
Moving into the fourth quarter, domestic monthly output is expected to maintain at a level of 3.5 million to 3.6 million tons, said Su Yanbo, a researcher at Beijing-based industry consultancy Aladdiny.
Rainfall had dropped recently in Yunnan, however, the abundant water storage meant little chance of production cuts this month and next, Su added.
China’s non-ferrous metal output was 6.42 million tons in September, a record monthly high and up 7.3% year-on-year.
Total output for the January-September period was 55.02 million tons, up 6.8% from the same period last year.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.