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The wider adoption of renewable energy and new energy vehicles (NEVs) as key components to aid China with achieving carbon emission peak by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2060, will boost the demand for aluminum and aluminum alloys with the merits of light weight, high strength, high corrosion resistance and affordability in mass production, Mymetal, Mysteel’s nonferrous metals data collection arm, shared in its market outlook report.
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China’s foreign trade value gained 28.5% on year over January-April to reach Yuan 11.62 trillion ($1.79 trillion), with exports up more substantially by 33.8% on year to Yuan 6.32 trillion and imports up 22.7% on year to Yuan 5.3 trillion, according to the latest data from the country’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) announced on May 7.
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China’s imports of copper concentrates over January-April moved up 4.4% on year to reach 7.9 million tonnes, according to the latest data from China’s General Administration of Customs on May 7. But the pace of growth pace slowed down from the on-year rise of 7.7% during January-March, mainly due to the slowing demand as domestic smelters planned to crimp production, market sources said.
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China's copper concentrates imports moved up 4.4% on year to 7.9 million tonnes over January-April, and the imports of unwrought copper and copper products also increased 9.9% on year to 1.9 million tonnes, according to the release by the country's General Administration of Customs on May 7. A detailed report
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For 2021, China’s nonferrous sector is likely to experience a pattern of stabilizing after growths in the first few months, Jia Mingxing, vice president and secretary-general of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, shared at a press conference on April 29.
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China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing industry inched down by 0.8 basis point on month to 51.1 for April, though having persisted in the expansion zone since March 2020, and all the key sub-indices including production and new orders were also above 50, according to the latest release by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on April 30.
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Two friends in Beijing shared their pictures taken in the deserted Shougang steelworks in Shijingshan, on the outskirts of western Beijing, through WeChat Moments recently. No one in the Chinese steel industry would have foreseen ten years before that the site could have turned into a local tourism spot with all the long-deserted blast furnaces clearly seen in the background of pictures.
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UC Rusal of Russia (Rusal), one of the world’s top aluminum producers and headquartered in Moscow, produced 932,000 tonnes of primary aluminum during the first quarter of 2021, lower by 1.9% on quarter or 0.8% on year, according to the smelter’s latest Q1 report published on April 27.
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The copper prices on both the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and London Metal Exchange touched their respective ten-year highs on April 27, though the market fundamentals in China was not as strong, Mysteel Global noted from the market sources.
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Domestic lead prices across China increased last week, as some end-users opted to replenish stocks before the Labour Day holiday over May 1-5, according to the latest survey from Mymetal, Mysteel’s nonferrous metals data collection arm.
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China’s sizable industrial firms posted a 137% on-year gain in their gross profits over January-March, which was also up 50.2% from Q1 2019, confirming their significant improvement in their financial performance, according to the release by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on April 27.
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China’s national average price of zinc ingot (99.995% at least) reversed down by Yuan 411/tonne ($63.2/t) on week to Yuan 21,729/t including the 13% VAT as of April 23, according to Mymetal’s assessment. Zn prices have been floating around the Yuan 21,500-22,500/t level for the past two months. Mymetal is Mysteel’s market intelligence unit for nonferrous metals.
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China’s domestic aluminum price continued to strengthen over the April 19-23 week amid improved demand from end-users, with the price of 99.7% aluminum ingot climbing by Yuan 107/tonne ($16.5/t) on week to Yuan 18,193/t including the 13% VAT as of April 23, refreshing the 9.5-year high, according to Mymetal’s assessment.
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Note:
South32’s financial year
runs from July to June.
Unless otherwise noted:
percentage variance relates to performance during the nine months ended March
2021 compared with the nine months ended March 2020 (YoY) or the March 2021
quarter compared with the December 2020 quarter (QoQ); production and sales
volumes are reported on an attributable basis.
Source: South32, released
on
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China’s production of the four major home appliances increased significantly in the first quarter of this year, given the low bases in the same period last year, as well as their sustained strong export business. But dampening the manufacturers’ mood was the rise in raw materials and other input costs, Mysteel Global noted.
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Chinese prices of nickel pig iron (NPI) resumed declining again last week, slipping under the weight of lower bidding prices of steel producers. As of April 25, the price of 8-15% grade NPI in East China’s Jiangsu province was at Yuan 1,070/mtu ($165/mtu) including delivery and the 13% VAT, down Yuan 35/mtu on week and hitting the lowest since December 14, according to Mysteel’s data.
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China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) reiterated at a press conference on April 20 that the country's crude steel will be cut this year and it has been formulating execution plans, which, to some extent, cleared the mist in and out of China on whether steel output cut for 2021 is still on China's agenda.
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Production Summary
(1) Wet basis. The comparative has been restated as Kumba previously reported on a dry basis.
(2) Reflects export primary production, secondary production sold into export markets and production sold domestically at export parity pricing from South Africa, and attributable export production (33.3%) from Colombia (Cerrejón).
(3) Reflects nickel production from
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China’s price of 99.99% grade copper cathode assessed by Mymetal, Mysteel’s nonferrous metals market research unit, increased by a significant Yuan 3,297/tonne ($507/t) on week to Yuan 68,928/t including the 13% VAT as of April 20, mainly reflecting declines in stocks and the potential for declines in production.
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Leading copper producer BHP has lifted its guidance for output of the metal for its 2021 business year (July 2020-June 2021) to 1.535-1.66 million tonnes (copper contained), slightly up on its original target of 1.51-1.645 million tonnes, according to the latest quarterly report published on April 21. The rise reflects the stronger-than-expected performance at its major mining property, Escondida, in North Chile.
