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BEIJING (Scrap Monster): China aluminium output reached a record 1.685 million tonnes in June this year while its nickel production hit a year high of 23,688 tonnes, as per latest data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.

According to NBS data, country's aluminium output up 0.1 percent from the previous record of 1.683 million tonnes set in May while its nickel production advanced sharply by 33.4% month-on-month in June after output dropped by 18.4% to a 15-month low of 17,761 tonnes in May.

Chinese smelters had added about one million tonnes of new aluminium production capacity in the first half and are likely to start up another one million tonnes of capacity in the second half.

NBS also added that, Chinese refined copper output increased by 7% month-on-month to 518,000 tonnes in June this year, recovering from a three-month low in May and matching a record high set last August.

Copper production advanced in June mainly due to Chinese smelters bet on improving demand in the second half as the government takes steps to boost the economy. The on-month rise had also been broadly expected because some smelters picked up production in June after operations had slowed due to maintenance in May.

Country's zinc production gained 12% in June to its highest level this year, surprising analysts, who were not even expecting to see any increase. The unexpected jump again underlines perceived problems with the reliability of production figures from NBS. Daily output of zinc averaged about 14,000 tonnes, compared with 12,451.6 tonnes in May and 15,266.7 tonnes a year earlier.

Country's daily iron ore output in June has become the highest production so far this year, and it also represents an increase of 1.4% on an annual basis. China’s iron ore miners saw a run-of-mine output of 4.19 million tpd in June, up 15.7% from 3.62 million tpd a month ago, on the back of higher prices.