NBS: China's Jan-Nov primary aluminum output rises 2.5% YoY

In November alone, the national primary aluminum output also rose by 2.5% from November 2024 to reach 3.79 million tonnes, the NBS data showed. However, the result was slightly lower by 0.2% from October, Mysteel Global calculated based on official statistics.

Demand from downstream automotive and power storage sectors continued to underpin primary aluminum consumption in November, market analysts said. Automotive aluminum consumption stayed robust last month, supported mainly by the launch of new vehicle models and steady automobile production and sales, as reported. Meanwhile, demand for the material from the power storage sector also improved. Around 11 provinces recorded newly commissioned energy storage projects during the month, Mysteel noted.

The relatively balanced supply-demand structure of the domestic primary aluminum market helped drive an upward trend in the material prices during the past month. The national average price of primary aluminum ingots with a purity above 99.7% edged higher by 2.3% from October to Yuan 21,518/tonne ($3,053/t) including the 13% VAT in November, Mysteel's price assessment showed.

With the marked price gains, Chinese primary aluminum smelters saw their profit margins last month jump to a record high in more than 3.5 years. According to Mysteel's survey, the average profit of the 89 smelters under its regular tracking reached Yuan 5,602/t in November, up by 6.6% from a month ago and marking the highest level since March 2022.

Meanwhile, NBS data revealed that China's combined output of ten major non-ferrous metals - including aluminum, copper, zinc, and lead - increased by 3.8% on year to 74.47 million tonnes over January-November 2025. In November, combined production of these metals registered 7 million tonnes, up by 0.5% from October and by 4.7% from a year earlier.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com