NBS: China's primary aluminum output rises 2.8% YoY in Jan-July

Over January-July, primary aluminum output totalled 26.38 million tonnes nationwide, representing a 2.8% on-year increase, the NBS data showed.

The NBS July figure was consistent with the findings of Mysteel's monthly survey, which estimated July output among the 89 Chinese primary aluminum smelters it regularly tracks at 3.77 million tonnes, just 10,000 tonnes below the official statistics.

China's primary aluminum production level was largely steady last month, supported by the robust profit margins being won by the domestic smelters when selling their output, market watchers said. Mysteel's survey showed that the average profit margin earned by the 89 sampled smelters rose by 10.4% from June to Yuan 4,775/tonne ($665/t) during the survey month, the highest since March 2022.

Last month's high profitability reflected the smelters' lower production costs for key inputs, including alumina, prebaked anode, and electricity, market analysts said. The total average cost for the surveyed smelters fell by 1.5% on month to Yuan 15,932/t in July, according to Mysteel's survey.

Meanwhile, primary aluminum prices were generally stable last month. On July 31, Mysteel assessed the average national price for primary aluminum ingots with purity exceeding 99.7% at Yuan 20,590/t including the 13% VAT, marking just a 0.9% decline from end-June.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com