World Primary Aluminum Market Ended in Surplus During Jan-May '20

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The world primary aluminum market recorded modest surplus during the first five months of 2020, says the latest report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS). The market witnessed a surplus of 908 kt during this period. The market had posted surplus of 780 kt in the whole year 2019.

The total reported aluminum stock rose during the initial five-month period to close at levels that were 165 kt higher than the end-2019 levels. The total LME stocks recorded marginal surge to 1,496 kt as at end-May this year, compared to 1,473 kt at the end of the previous year.

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From January to May in 2020, the overall aluminum production surged higher by 4.0% compared with the initial five months of 2019. The Chinese production totalled 14.790 million t, which accounted for nearly 54% of the world production total. The production by the EU-28 region registered a dip of 2.2%, whereas the NAFTA regions’ output rose by 4.5%, compared with previous year’s level.

The primary aluminum output during the month of May 2020 totalled 5,449.2 kt, whereas the monthly consumption totalled 5,387.8 kt during the month.

According to WBMS, the global aluminum demand increased marginally by 285 kt to total 26.33 million tonnes during Jan-May ‘20, upon comparison with the corresponding five months in 2019. The Chinese apparent demand was modestly higher by 3.90% year-on-year. Also, EU-28 demand stood lower by 554 kt from the comparable period in 2019.