China produced 8 million tonnes of alumina last month including metallurgical-grade and other types, up by 8.7% from September last year and by 0.9% from August, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The figure marked a record monthly high, Mysteel Global noted.
Last month's performance meant that over January-September, China's total alumina output reached 68.56 million tonnes, representing an 8.4% on-year increase, the NBS data showed.
The modest on-month climb in September reflected generally stable alumina production nationwide, though output rose in several southwestern regions, market watchers said. Last month, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces and the Guangxi autonomous region recorded increases of 8.1%, 5.5%, and 4.9% in output, respectively, compared with August, Mysteel Global calculated based on the bureau's statistics.
The output growth in these regions was largely driven by relatively firmer alumina demand from a few primary aluminum smelters that have been newly relocated to Yunnan and Guizhou in recent months through capacity swaps, according to market sources.
By region, Shandong, Shanxi, and Guangxi maintained their positions as the country's leading alumina production bases in September, the GACC's figures showed.
Shandong's alumina output totalled 2.8 million tonnes last month, down by 0.7% from August. Shanxi ranked second with 1.8 million tonnes, a 0.4% on-month drop. Guangxi followed with 1.5 million tonnes, up by 4.9% from the prior month.
Table: China's September alumina output by region |
Ranking | Province/Autonomous region | Sept output ('000 t) | Aug output ('000 t) | M-o-M change |
1 | Shandong | 2,792.30 | 2,810.80 | -0.66% |
2 | Shanxi | 1,759.50 | 1,767.40 | -0.45% |
3 | Guangxi | 1,480.30 | 1,411.60 | 4.87% |
4 | Henan | 802.4 | 818.2 | -1.93% |
5 | Guizhou | 537.2 | 496.8 | 8.13% |
6 | Chongqing | 440.3 | 436.4 | 0.89% |
7 | Yunnan | 106.1 | 100.6 | 5.47% |
8 | Inner Mongolia | 70.9 | 77.1 | -8.04% |
9 | Hubei | 5.0 | 1.8 | 177.78% |
10 | Jiangxi | 3.6 | 0.9 | 300.00% |
Source: NBS |