NBS: China's primary aluminum output up 1.7% YoY in May

May's output marked a 0.5% uptick from the previous month, Mysteel Global's calculation based on the NBS data showed.

On a per-day basis, national primary aluminum output averaged 125,484 tonnes last month, up by 1.6% from a year earlier but down by 2.7% from April, Mysteel Global also calculated.

The NBS figure for May was broadly in line with Mysteel's survey, which showed that the 89 Chinese primary aluminum smelters under its tracking produced 3.87 million tonnes last month, up 3.3% on year.

Last month's primary aluminum production reflected stable operations at most smelters and modest growth that came from newly commissioned capacity in North China and the resumption of previously suspended capacity in Northwest China, according to market analysts.  

On the pricing side, domestic primary aluminum prices weakened during the month despite firmer international prices driven by global supply disruptions, particularly in the Middle East. In China, persistent inventory pressure weighed on primary aluminum prices.

Mysteel assessed the national average price of primary aluminum ingots with a minimum purity of 99.7% at Yuan 24,260.4/tonne ($3,588.6/t) in May, down 1.4% from April.

Although domestic inventories began to decline last month, overall stock levels remained elevated. According to Mysteel's survey, primary aluminum inventories held in warehouses across 16 major cities totaled 1.4 million tonnes at the end of the month, down by 3.3% from April and reversing the 3.7% increase recorded during April from March. However, the end-May stock level was still up sharply by 169.9% from the same month last year.

During the first five months, China produced 19.22 million tonnes of primary aluminum, up 3.5% from the January-May 2025 period, the NBS data showed.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com