SHANGHAI, Mar. 22 (SMM) – The aluminum price outlook still looks bright in the first half of this year, not dimmed by growing aluminum capacity in China, SMM predicts at the recent 2016 Copper&Aluminum Summit in Shanghai.  

China’s aluminum capacity will expand to 42 million-tpy in 2016 from 39 million-tpy in 2015, SMM aluminum analyst Liu Xiaolei said at the summit. The first half of the year will see no more than 1 million-tpy enter operations, though, with much of the additional capacity to come on stream in the second half of the year, Liu added. 

Financial tightness at most smelters will be the one of the reasons behind slow capacity release, Liu explained. Banks are now very cautious towards lending to companies in aluminum-related industry against bad loans caused by a large number of aluminum smelters and processors last year.  

Collections of Base Metal Stories at 2016 SMM Summit

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