The global primary aluminum market remained in surplus of 1.71mn mt in January-October, compared to a surplus of 479,000mt for all of 2019, according to the latest World Bureau of Metals Statistics (WBMS) data.
Demand for the metal increased by 3.9pc or 599,000mt to 53.77mn mt in January-October 2020 from the same period last year. In October alone, global aluminum production was 5.62mn mt and demand stood at 5.48mn mt.
In China, demand rose by 10.9pc in the first ten months on an annual basis and the country became a net importer of unwrought aluminum. Net exports of aluminium semis from China were 3.51mn mt, declining by 11pc from 4.03mn mt during the same period under comparison. Output of semis from China increased by 8.6pc. Demand for primary aluminum in the EU was down by 1.17mn mt against the whole of last year.
Global output rose by 3.9pc
Without disclosing volumes, WBMS noted that global primary aluminum output was up by 3.9pc in the first ten months of 2020 while global demand rose 1.1pc compared to January-October 2019. Production from China, estimated at 30.63mn mt, accounted for around 55pc of global output in January-October.
The bureau attributed the high yield from China to more availability of imported raw materials like bauxite and alumina. In the EU, primary aluminum production fell by 2.1pc from January-October 2019 while the North American output rose by 4.1pc during the same period under comparison.