WBMS: World primary aluminium surplus expanded to 684,000 mt in January to February

SHANGHAI, Apr 23 (SMM) – World primary aluminium surplus expanded to 684,000 mt in the first two months of 2020, from 492,000 mt recorded for the whole of 2019, the World Bureau of Metals Statistics (WBMS) reported on Wednesday.

This came as global demand for January-to-February rose by 4.1% year on year while production jumped by 8.3%.

By the end of February, total reported stocks stood at 1.99 million mt, 159,000 mt lower than the level seen at the end of December 2019. Stocks at LME-approved warehouses fell during the same period, mostly in Asian warehouses.

For China, apparent demand for primary aluminium in January-to-February was 6.2% higher than the same period last year, while output was estimated to have expanded to 6.06 million mt, accounting for about 55 % of the world total production, given higher availability of imported bauxite and alumina.

In February 2020, global primary aluminium production was 5.54 million while demand was 5.14 million mt.