BEIJING: China’s primary aluminium output in November climbed 4.8% from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, with major producing regions adding new capacity to meet solid demand for the light metal.

The world’s biggest aluminium producer churned out 3.54 million metric tons of primary aluminium last month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Inner Mongolia, the country’s second-biggest producing region, added about 100,000 tons of capacity in November, according to industry consultancy Aladdiny.

Operations in other main regions remained strong, buoyed by a profitable market and underpinned by healthy demand. Aluminium is used in the transportation, construction and packaging sectors.

Average daily output in November was 118,000 tons, up from October’s daily average of 116,774 tons, Reuters calculations showed.

Dry seasonal conditions led to production cuts in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, while analysts expected to see an increasing effect on output from December.

For the first eleven months of the year, China produced 38 million tons, up 3.9% from the corresponding period last year, the data showed.

Production of 10 nonferrous metals - including copper, aluminium, lead, zinc and nickel - climbed 7.1% to 6.5 million tons in November from a year earlier.

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Output in the first 11 months of the year rose 7.2% to 67.96 million tons.

The other non-ferrous metals are tin, antimony, mercury, magnesium and titanium.