Shanghai Nonferrous Metals News
China produced 3.01 mln t of primary aluminium in August 2019, down 1.96% on-month and down 3.48% on-year. China’s total primary aluminium output reached 23.57 mln during the first eight months of 2019, down 1.89% on-year. A number of incidents at Shandong and Xinjiang smelters interrupted aluminium production in August, reducing monthly output. In the meantime, new project startups and resumptions continued slowly in August. China had 34.9 mtpy of primary aluminum capacity in operation and 5.8 mtpy capacity under suspension or idled by end-August, with an operational rate of 85.8%, down 4.7 percentage points from July.
SMM forecast China’s aluminium output at 2.92 mln t for September in the wake of increasing capacity resumptions and new startups, however still showing a moderate drop of 2.76% y-o-y.
