SHANGHAI, Jul 18 (SMM) – China’s export volumes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products logged its second monthly high, of all time, in June as the growth in extrusion exports exceeded the decline in flat rolled product exports, SMM research found.
China exported 510,000 mt of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in June, up 25,000 mt from May and up 10.9% from the same period last year, next to the highest of 540,000 mt recorded in December 2014, data from China Customs showed.
The total figure for the first six months of this year grew 11.3% on the year and registered 2.72 million mt.
SMM found that extrusion exports in June were substantially boosted by the depreciating Chinese yuan. Export orders for aluminium coil for remelting also boomed in June on high profits.
Meanwhile, medium-sized manufacturers of cast rolled coil, located near primary aluminium producers, saw sufficient export orders in June. But their capacity and molten aluminium supply limited the further upward room in their production. Such manufacturers are mainly located in Baotou of Inner Mongolia province, Binzhou and Liaocheng of Shandong province and Jiayuguan of Gansu province.
However, aluminium alloy sheet, plate and strip production at large-scale manufacturers slipped in June, suppressed by the US anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese aluminum foil, a slight increase in the SHFE/LME ratio and the extended deadline of US sanctions on Rusal.
SMM estimates June’s primary aluminium export volumes at 3,000 mt, alloy at 52,000 mt, plate, sheet and strip at some 260,000 mt, foil at some 105,000 mt, bar, rod and profile at 75,000 mt, tube at 12,000 mt and wire at 3,000 mt. China Customs did not release the export figures for those products.
With an SHFE/LME ratio over 6.9 SHFE/LME and as the Chinese and international markets head into the low season, SMM expects the unwrought aluminium and aluminium product export volumes to slide to around 490,000 mt in July.
