Primary Aluminum Metal Market Reported Notable Deficit Until July

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The January to July 2021 Metals Balances Report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) suggests that primary aluminium market ended in modest deficit of 1,076 kt. This follows a surplus of 1,211 kt recorded for the whole of year 2020.

The global aluminum production during the initial seven-month period of the current year rose by nearly 6% upon comparison with the corresponding period a year before. The Chinese output, at 22,890 kt, accounted for almost 57% of the global aluminium production. The Chinese exports of aluminum semi manufactures rose 12% to 2,694 kt during January to July in 2020.

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The demand stood higher by 3,617 kt from the comparable period in 2020 to around 41.43 million tonnes. The Chinese apparent demand surged higher by 11% than in Jan-July ‘20. The Japanese demand was up by 123 kt, whereas the U.S. demand fell by 225 kt.

The total reported stocks of the metal declined in July to close the period at 799 kt below the end-2020 levels. The Shanghai stocks continued to fall during the month of July this year, but ended the period 30.9 kt above the end-2020 levels. Meantime, the LME stocks closed at 2,084.8 kt at the end of July 2021, compared with 2,917.0 kt at the end of the previous year. The Asian stocks remained more or less unchanged.

In July this year, primary aluminium production totalled 5,783.9 kt, whereas the demand stood at 5,893.7 kt.