China’s magnesium ingot output shrank 14% in April

According to the customs, China exported 24,329.4 mt of magnesium ingots in October, an increase of 43.8% MoM and 58.5% YoY; and the cumulative exports from January to October totalled 214,000 mt, an increase of 31.4% YoY.

It is understood from the factories in the main magnesium ingot production area that the majority of the large factories have basically resumed production, except for some factories that have not yet fulfilled the requirement due to their own environmental protection reasons.

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

China's magnesium ingot output stood at 694,000 mt in May, down 3,000 mt or 4.11% month on month. The output totalled 321,200 mt from January to May.

An SMM survey showed that China produced 821,800 mt of copper cathode in February, rising 2.89% from January and 20.31% from a year ago, as some copper smelters recovered from maintenance.

China’s magnesium ingot output stood at 71,401 mt in February , SMM data showed. Magnesium prices rose before falling in February, and most of the magnesium plants kept stable production. They cleared inventories actively to reduce the risk of inventory buildup after CNY, and raised the proportion of orders for future delivery.

China's output of hot-rolled coils and plates is likely to remain high in September, as steelmakers recover from maintenance and high profits encourage mills to produce.

Major Chinese steelmakers continued to ramp up production in early June, after the country’s steel output hit a record high in the previous month.

SMM data showed that China produced 683,100 mt of copper cathode last month, down 5.9% from January and 5.07% from February 2019. China produced 5.4 million mt of alumina in February, with metallurgical-grade material accounting for 5.17 million mt.

China’s production of refined tin plunged in February as the COVID-19 outbreak kept most smelters shut even as some producers maintained normal operations.