This is a roundup of China's metals output in March 2021, from an exclusive survey of key producers by SMM analysts.

China’s alumina output stood at 6.28 million mt in March. This included 6.07 million mt of metallurgical-grade alumina, with the daily output down 2.89% on the month but up 11.75% on the year to 195,900 mt. Metallurgical-grade alumina output totalled 17.32 million mt in Q1, up 7.12% on a yearly basis.

An SMM survey showed that China produced 860,500 mt of copper cathode in March, rising 4.71% from February and 15.71% from a year ago, as some copper smelters recovered from maintenance and due to more operating days in the month.

Production restriction in Tangshan was very tight in March and has been of great concern for the market.

Operating rates of blast furnaces at steel mills dropped 0.3 percentage point from a week ago and 1 percentage point from a month ago to 84% as of April 8, SMM survey showed. Continuing environmental restrictions led to the decline in BF operating rates. 

In the aluminium scrap market, import restrictions reduced supply, while high and volatile aluminium prices curbed downstream purchase. As it is difficult for prices of traditional gasoline cars, the biggest consumer of aluminium scrap tense, to rise, the sharp increase in the price of raw materials will not be acceptable to buyers.

Orders at cable companies have gradually picked up last week. Boosted by the start of infrastructure projects and other projects, orders at cable companies have recovered nearly 80%. Although the northern market has recovered slowly, many cable companies have recently received orders from the State Grid. With the depletion of downstream inventories and consumption improvement, orders for wire and cable companies are expected to increase after the Qingming Festival.

Spot trades in Shanghai were subdued initially before improving last week. Sellers were liquidating aggressively early last week due to cash flow issues and large inflows of imported high-quality copper, lowering spot discounts from 70-60 yuan/mt to 120-100 yuan/mt in three days.

The US economic data was upbeat last week, with new orders growing strongly. The manufacturing PMI stood at 64.7, the highest since 1983, and ADP non-farm payrolls stood at the highest since September 2020. The US dollar index stood at a high of around 93.4. Investors were away from market on Friday due to the Qing Ming Festival Holiday.  Upbeat PMI in China boosted bulls confidence, bolstering Chinese stocks and commodities.

The anti-dumping duties announced in the final ruling on March 30, 2021 are lower than temporary anti-dumping duties in the preliminary ruling.