Sina Finance News
In the wake of domestic alumina prices falling under RMB 2,500/t, profit margins for domestic aluminum smelters have increased. With a large amount of new alumina capacity available, domestic alumina prices are unlikely to rise rapidly and are expected to remain at low levels during 2019.
The domestic primary aluminium sector is currently going through a period of de-stocking. SMM data shows domestic primary aluminium inventory at 1.05 mln t, falling by 300 kt from the beginning of 2019 and down by 700 kt from the high-point in mid-February 2019 after the Chinese New Year Holiday. Domestic primary aluminium output is expected at 37 mln t for 2019, and domestic demand for primary aluminium is expected at 37.76 mln t. Inventory destocking of primary aluminium will continue throughout the rest of 2019, and is expected to fall to 600~700 kt by-end-2019.
