Shanghai Nonferrous Metals News
SMM: China produced 3.07 mln t of primary aluminium in May 2020, up 1% y-o-y. As of end-May, China’s completed primary aluminium capacity reached 41.23 mtpy, with 36.58 mtpy operational – a rate of 88.7%, down 0.2 percentage points m-o-m. As of end-May, domestic operational aluminium capacity lifted by 70 ktpy m-o-m thanks to new capacity coming online and resumptions in Xinjiang, IM, and Sichuan.
Combined primary aluminium output during the first five months of 2020 was 15 mln t, up 3% y-o-y. In comparison, China’s aluminium consumption amounted to 14.27 mln t from January to May, down 2.39% y-o-y and strong momentum of primary aluminium inventory destocking is likely to continue. SMM forecast domestic aluminium output to grow 1.6% y-o-y to 2.98 mln t in June owing to new capacity coming online in Sichuan and Yunnan.
