First signs of smelter slow down
Monday, November 17th, 2008Aluminium production in China last month is reported to have dropped to 1,090,000 tonnes, taking the daily average for the month down to a little over 35,000 tonnes per day. This is a 9% drop over last month, and a 4% drop over October 2007. Although these figures have not yet been formally announced by the China Non-Ferrous Metals Association, the primary recording body in China, they do come from the China Statistics Bureau, so shouldn’t be dismissed.
This takes the year to date total to 11.2 million tonnes (subject to correction), so 2008 is shaping up to close out at around 13.3 - 13.5 million tonnes.
We will report more fully on the situation in the primary metal industry in the next edition of the Black China Report.