Primary Aluminum Market Records Huge Deficit in Jan-Aug ‘17

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The world primary aluminum market deficit expanded further during the month of August this year. The market continued to remain in deficit during the initial eight-month period of the year. This is in accordance with the data in the Metals Balances Report Jan-Aug ’17 published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS).

According to the report, the calculated market balance of world primary aluminum market stood at deficit of 1,572 kt during the first eight months of 2017. The deficit has further expanded from 1,381 kt reported at the end of July this year. It must be noted that the global aluminum market had recorded a deficit of 766 kt during the whole of 2016.

The production of primary aluminum has surged higher by 1.345 million tonnes during the opening eight months of the current year. The total reported stock of metal edged higher marginally by 10,000 tonnes during the month of August this year. The stocks of the metal at the end of the eight-month period in 2017 stood at 2,284 kt, which is sufficient enough to meet global demand for 14 days. It must be noted that the stock levels had stood at 2,761 kt at the end of 2016. The combined stocks held in London, Shanghai, USA and Tokyo exchanges totaled 1.839 million tonnes at the end of August, significantly lower by 485 kt when matched with the December 2016 levels.

Overall global production rose considerably by nearly 3.5% during the period from January to August in 2017. The leading producer of the metal during this period was China. The Chinese aluminum production was estimated at 22,171 kt during this period. The country accounted for more than 56% of the global aluminum production during Jan-July ’17. The production by the EU region reported marginal increase of 0.2%, whereas the output from NAFTA region declined by 2.4% from the year-ago level. The primary aluminum output during the month of August 2017 totaled 4,800.5 kt. Also, the monthly consumption of primary aluminum totaled 5,002.6 kt in August this year.

The net exports of Chinese aluminum semi manufacturers totaled 2,627 kt during the first eight months of the year, rising sharply by more than 5.5% over the previous year. The exports had totaled 2,489 kt during January to August last year.

The WBMS report also states that the global aluminum demand increased by 2.334 million tons during January to August in 2017 to total 40.88 million tonnes, when compared with the corresponding eight-month period in 2016. The Chinese apparent demand was modestly higher by 7.2% when compared with 2016. Also, EU-28 demand stood higher by 145 kt during January to August this year when matched with the comparable eight-month period in 2016.