LONDON (Scrap Register): The calculated market balance for primary aluminium for January to August 2019 was a deficit of 262 kt which follows a deficit of 631 kt recorded for the whole of 2018. Demand for primary aluminium for January to August 2019 was 41.57 million tonnes, 645 kt less than in the same eight months of 2018, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) said in its latest report.
Production in January to August 2019 fell by 324 kt compared with the same period in 2018. Producer stock data is no longer published and total reported stocks fell slightly during August and closed at the end of the month 654 kt below the December 2018 level. Total LME stocks fell during August, mostly in Malaysian warehouses.
Total stocks at the end of August 2019 were 1775 kt which compares with 2429 kt at the end of 2018. Total stocks held in the four exchanges in London, Shanghai, USA and Tokyo were 1288.2 kt at the end of August 2019 which were 663 kt lower than in December 2018 total. No allowance is made in the consumption calculation for large unreported stock changes especially those held in Asia.
Overall, global production fell in January to August 2019 by 0.8% compared with the first eight months of 2018. Chinese output was estimated at 23466 kt and this currently accounts for about 57% of the world production total. Chinese apparent demand was 1.2 per cent higher than in January to August 2018.
Chinese net exports of unwrought aluminium were 271 kt during January to August 2019 which compares with 266 kt in the comparable period in 2018. January to August 2019 net exports of aluminium semi manufactures were 3357 kt which compares with 2854 kt for the first eight months of 2018.
Production in the EU28 was 0.5 per cent higher than the previous year and NAFTA output rose by 5.9 per cent. EU28 demand was 188 kt lower than the comparable 2018 total. Global demand fell by 1.5 per cent during January to August 2019 compared with the levels recorded one year previously.
In August 2019, primary aluminium production was 5317.2 kt and consumption was 5324.6 kt.
