China April aluminium output hits record high as power curbs lifted

High costs: Employees work with aluminium ingots at a factory in Huaibei, China. Prices are soaring for raw materials that go into everyday household goods like aluminium. — AFP

BEIJING: China's aluminium production in April hit a record high, official data showed on Monday, after curbs on power production eased, allowing smelters to expand operations.

Primary aluminium output in the world's top producer and consumer of the metal stood at 3.36 million tonnes, up 0.3% on the same month a year ago, which had been a monthly high, National Bureau of Statistics data showed.

On a daily basis, aluminium production last month was 112,000 tonnes, up from the daily average of 106,453 tonnes during March, and also a record high, according to Reuters calculations based on the data.

Restrictions on power consumption designed to ensure sufficient supplies to key users had curbed output in the first quarter.

Curbs had significantly eased by April however, helping companies like Henan Shenhuo Coal & Power Co Ltd to begin running at full capacity by the end of the month.

For the first four months of the year, China made 13.01 million tonnes of aluminium, down 0.2% from the same period a year earlier.

Meanwhile, output of 10 nonferrous metals - including copper, aluminium, lead, zinc and nickel - was 5.53 million tonnes in April. That was up from 5.48 million tonnes a year earlier.

The other non-ferrous metals in this group are tin, antimony, mercury, magnesium and titanium. - Reuters