China's primary aluminium output dipped 4% YoY in Oct

SHANGHAI, Nov 11 (SMM) – Domestic production of primary aluminium fell 3.82% from a year ago to 2.995 million mt in October, SMM data showed. Output in the first ten months of this year stood at 29.45 million mt, with a year-over-year decline of 2.27%.

Production cuts due to accidents in August-September continued to impact output and capacity in October. 

By the end of October, domestic capacity in operation came in at 35.39 million mt/year, up 340,000 mt from September, but the actual production it generated in October remained 119,000 mt lower than the same period last year. 

The pace of capacity recovery and new capacity commissioning failed to accelerate significantly in October, which may extend into November. This may continue to create a year-over-year decline in domestic primary aluminium output in November, which is estimated at 2.92 million mt, down 1.32% from November 2018. 

According to SMM data, the first ten months of this year saw an accumulative inventory draw of 416,000 mt for primary aluminium, which translated to a year-on-year decline of 1.75% in the actual consumption of primary aluminium. 

Weak property and car sectors kept the consumption of aluminium subdued. The monthly growth in demand remained marginal amid the ongoing restructuring of primary aluminium consumption.