Shanghai Nonferrous Metals News
SMM: China produced 2.87 mln t of primary aluminium in February 2020, up 6.9% y-o-y. As of end-February, China’s completed primary aluminium capacity reached 40.99 mtpy, with 36.6 mtpy operational – a rate of 89.3%, down 0.2 percentage points m-o-m.
Combined primary aluminium output in January and February was 5.94 mln t, up 5.1% y-o-y. With growth in output exceeding that of consumption, domestic aluminium inventory has been on the rise. As of 5th March, domestic primary aluminium inventory had climbed to 1.49 mln t, up by 151% y-o-y. Buckling under falling prices and rising costs, some high-cost smelters are considering an early start to scheduled maintenance. New capacity in Yunnan and IM is gradually coming online, but some new projects have been slow to develop amid falling prices and labour force shortages. SMM forecast domestic aluminium capacity in operation to rise to 36.75 mln t in March, with output of 3.08 mln t, up 3.3% y-o-y.
