Reuters reported that China's production of nickel, primary aluminum and its raw material alumina hit records in May on increased capacity that could see aluminum output rise further in June.
Production of refined copper in the world's top consumer of the metal continued to slow from a record 470,000 tonnes in March as a reduced supply of scrap constrained producers.
Mr Fu Bin analyst at Jinrui Futures in Shenzhen city said that aluminum production is still moving upward. The key issue is that there is a lot of new capacity. Production of primary aluminium in the world's top producer rose 5.3% on the month to hit a third consecutive record at 1.536 million tonnes up 8.7% from a year ago. Record production showed that power shortages had not affected large smelters.
Industry sources said that power supply remains normal in the resource-rich provinces in the north and northwest where the bulk of new aluminum capacity is located.
Monthly production could reach fresh record highs in June and July as an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of new annual capacity is slated to come on stream. Output of alumina, the main material for aluminium production, reached a record 3.119 million tonnes in May up from the previous record of 2.987 million tonnes in April. Increased supply is weighing on alumina prices and prompting merchants to mull alumina exports.
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