China's aluminum output hit a record high in 2020

China's aluminium production reached an annual record of 37.08 million tons in 2020, as aluminium mills took advantage of soaring aluminum prices, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. Although the price rise cooled in December, output also hit a monthly record.

Raw aluminium production in December was 3.27 million tons, up 2.8% from 3.182 million tons in November and breaking the monthly record of 3.2 million tons in October, according to the data.

As the world's aluminium producer, China's output in 2020 surpassed the record high of 35.802 million tons set in 2018, according to the data. Production fell in 2019 for the first time in a decade.

In 2020, the main contract of Shanghai Aluminum (14910,50.00,0.34%) increased by 9.57%. Although shanghai aluminum fell 6.2 per cent in December, it was still higher than the break-even level of Chinese smelters.

China added 300000 tonnes of smelting capacity in December, analysts said. This far exceeds the estimated reduction of 20,000 tons of capacity in China's winter heating season.

Analysts expect Chinese aluminium production to grow by another 6.5 per cent in 2021. China aims to limit its annual production capacity to about 45 million tons.

China's output of 10 non-ferrous metals in December was 5.75 million tons, up 8.6% from a year earlier and a new monthly record, up from the peak of 5.492 million tons set in November.

In 2020, the output of ten non-ferrous metals was 61.68 million tons, an increase of 5.5% and a record high.