China’s alumina production in April comes in at 5.65 million tonnes; Aluminium output grows to 2.96 million tonnes

According to the data from Shanghai Metals Market, China in April 2020 produced 5.65 million tonnes of alumina, including 5.4 million tonnes of metallurgical-grade alumina. The daily output came in at 179,800 tonnes, up 2.62 per cent month-on-the month but down 7.07 per cent over the year.

In the first four months of 2020, China’s total output of metallurgical-grade alumina stood at 21.56 million tonnes, 8.61 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year.

Smaller production cut in Shanxi and Henan driven by the easing impact of COVID19 together with the slight recovery of alumina prices boosted China’s daily alumina production in April. The increased output of alumina offset the cutback at production lines using imported bauxite at SPIC Shanxi Aluminium, Luoyang Wanji, and Chongqing Bosai.

SMM anticipates the output of metallurgical-grade alumina to come down to 5.53 million tonnes in May, with the daily output at 178,000 tonnes, owing to potential greater output cut at refineries in North China (such as Chinalco Shanxi) that consume imported bauxite.

SMM will closely monitor changes in operations of lines using imported bauxite in Shanxi and Henan as well as refineries willingness to resume production amid a gradual rally in prices.

China’s primary aluminium output grew 2.4 per cent year-on-year to 2.96 million tonnes in April. The total production in the first four months of the year increased 3.6 per cent over the year to 11.93 million tonnes, while consumption shrank 5.5 per cent to 10.7 million tonnes.

For May, SMM expects the production of primary aluminium to grow marginally by 0.1 per cent to 3.07 million tonnes, as the aluminium price rally will encourage new projects to come online as planned and more projects will recover operations from maintenance or production cuts.