Surge in export orders to avoid increased costs from December 1 leads to steady aluminium billet output in Nov’24

In November 2024, just ahead of the cancellation of the aluminium semis export tax rebate on December 1, overseas orders for Chinese extruded aluminium products surged, driving some billet enterprises to increase operations. Therefore, despite one less operating day in November than October, China’s domestic primary aluminium billet production per day remained stable at 49,000 tonnes.

Image Source: Guoxin Aluminum

According to the Shanghai Metals Market, the monthly output also stood firm at 1.477 million tonnes in November versus 1.507 million tonnes in October. That reflected a 2 per cent drop month-on-month, primarily due to one operation day less. The number of sample enterprises in the SMM monthly survey was 169, with a total capacity of 31.205 million tonnes, unchanged from the previous month.

On an annual basis, the output of primary aluminium billet in November demonstrated an increase of 159,000 tonnes or 12.1 per cent.