Primary Aluminum market records tiny surplus during Jan-Feb ‘16

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicates that global primary aluminum market has recorded a marginal surplus during the initial two months of the year. As per the report, the market reported a surplus of 9,500 tons when matched with the deficit of 311,000 reported during entire year 2015.

The production of primary aluminum has dropped by 26,000 tonnes during the two-month period from January to February this year. The global production rose by 3,260 kt during this period, when compared with a year ago. The total reported stock of metal has declined further by 25,000 tonnes during the month of February. The stocks at the end of the initial two-month period stood at 3,636 kt, which is sufficient to meet 23 days demand. It must be noted that the stock levels at the end of 2015 had stood at 3,787 kt. The combined stocks held in London, Shanghai, USA and Tokyo exchanges totaled 3,109 kt at the end of February, down by 124 kt when matched with end-2015 levels.

Global production fell slightly by 0.3% during the period from January to February in 2016. China, with estimated production of 4,550 kt, accounted for more than 51% of the world production. Production in the EU-28 region rose by 3.1% and the output by NAFTA region fell by 2.4% year-on-year. The primary aluminum production for the month of February alone was 4,168.20 kt, whereas the consumption totaled 4,209.90 kt.

The Chinese net exports of aluminum semis totaled 537 kt during the first two months of the year, when compared with 719 kt during Jan-Feb ’15.

The WBMS report also states that the global aluminum demand rose by 0.1% during January to February this year to total 8.89 million tonnes, when compared with the corresponding period last year. The Chinese apparent demand reduced by almost 1.9% when compared with 2015. Also, EU-28 demand dropped slightly during January to February this year by 102 kt when compared with the previous year.