IAI: Global primary Al output exceeds 6.2 million t in August

The modest on-month climb came after a stronger 3.3% rise in July, though July's output has been revised down to 6.27 million tonnes from the previously reported 6.37 million tonnes.

On a per-day basis, daily global output averaged 202,484 tonnes last month, also nearly steady from July, with just a 0.1% uptick, Mysteel Global calculates based on the IAI data showed.

China remained the world's dominant primary aluminum producer last month, contributing an estimated 3.76 million tonnes or about 60% of the global supply. This output was unchanged from a month earlier but was higher by 1.3% from August 2024, the IAI noted.

The IAI's estimate closely aligns with the volume reported by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which showed that the country produced 3.8 million tonnes of the light metal in August. However, the NBS data suggested a 0.6% on-month increase but a 0.5% on-year decline.

Meanwhile, Europe (including Russia) ranked second in global output, producing 600,000 tonnes during the month, up by 0.5% from a year ago. The five Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – collectively produced 521,000 tonnes, down by 2.6% on year, ranking third.

During the first eight months in 2025, global primary aluminum output totalled 49.03 million tonnes, marking a climb of 1.3% from the January-August period in 2024, according to the IAI.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com