Shanghai Nonferrous Metals News
SMM: China produced 2.96 mln t of primary aluminium in April 2020, up 2.4% y-o-y. As of end-April, China’s completed primary aluminium capacity reached 41.23 mtpy, with 36.51 mtpy operational – a rate of 88.5%, up 0.7 percentage points m-o-m. As of end-April, domestic primary aluminum capacity in operation grew by 300 ktpy m-o-m.
Domestic aluminium prices rebounded from a low point in April, seeing less smelters in loss. According to SMM, total aluminium capacity under suspension or maintenance dropped to 570 kt in April, and new capacity in IM and Yunnan has been coming online according to schedule. China produced 11.93 mln t of primary aluminum during the first four months of 2020, up 3.6% y-o-y, and aluminium consumption was 10.7 mln t down 5.5% y-o-y. Driven by strong internal demand, domestic aluminium inventory is likely to drop rapidly over the short-term.
New domestic aluminium capacity is expected to come online according to schedule in May, meanwhile, anticipating smaller amounts of suspensions and maintenance, SMM projects domestic aluminium output at 3.07 mln t in May.
