China March aluminium output up, non-ferrous metals hit record high

China’s primary aluminium output in March rose 7.4% from a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, as producers ramped up operations off the back of rising global prices and stronger demand.

The world’s biggest aluminium producer churned out 3.59 million metric tons of primary aluminium in March, according to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

A stronger economy helped boost output. Last month, China’s manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in six months, a factor underlined by data on Friday showing GDP in the first quarter rose more than expected.

The most-traded aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SAFcv1 gained 3.4% in March and the benchmark contract on the London Metal Exchange CMAL3 rose 4.1% last month.

The price rally, together with lower costs of electricity and alumina, raised average profit margins for the industry to 2,444 yuan ($337.79) per ton in March, 24% higher than February and 86% higher than the same month last year, according to research house Antaike.

However, smelters in Yunnan, China’s fourth-biggest producing region, had to curb output because of lower dry-season hydropower supply. Power shortages are expected to run through the rest of this year, analysts say.

The average daily output in March was at 215,161 tons, compared with 212,833 tons, the daily average output for the first two months this year, according to Reuters calculations based on the data.

For the first three months of 2024, China produced 10.69 million tonnes of aluminium, a rise of 6.8% from a year earlier, the NBS data showed.

The production of 10 nonferrous metals in March – including copper, aluminium, lead, zinc and nickel – rose 7.1% from a year earlier to a record 6.67 million tonnes.

In January to March, output rose 7.0% to 19.45 million tonnes, the data showed. The other non-ferrous metals are tin, antimony, mercury, magnesium and titanium.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Christian schmollinger)