WBMS: Primary Aluminum Market in Balance Till February

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The January to February 2021 Metals Balances Report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) suggests that primary aluminium market ended in balance. This follows a surplus of 840 kt recorded for the entire year 2020.

The global production during the initial two-month period of the current year rose by nearly 6% upon comparison with the similar two-month period a year before. The Chinese output, at 6,452 kt, accounted for almost 57% of the global aluminium production. The NAFTA output rose marginally by 0.5%, whereas the EU output edged lower by 4.20%, compared to the previous year.

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The demand stood higher by 855 kt from the comparable period in 2020 to around 11.32 million tonnes. The Chinese apparent demand surged higher by 17% than in Jan-Feb ‘20. On the contrary, the EU-28 demand edged lower by 77 kt.

The total reported stocks of the metal declined in February to close the period at 85 kt above the end-2020 levels. The Shanghai stocks rose in both January and February. Meantime, the LME stocks declined marginally to close at 1,316.8 kt at the end of February 2021, compared with 1,340.5 kt at the end of the previous year.

In February 2021, primary aluminium production totalled 5,583.4 kt, whereas the demand stood at 5,524.0 kt.