China's primary aluminium output defied low prices to rise for a second straight month to a record high in December, while 2018 annual output was also a record, official data showed on Monday. The world's top aluminium maker produced 3.05 million tonnes of the metal last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
That was up 8.2 percent from 2.82 million tonnes in November - which also posted a surprise output jump after three straight monthly drops - and up 11.3 percent from December 2017, the bureau said. On a daily basis, China produced almost 98,400 tonnes of aluminium last month, up from 94,000 tonnes in November and also a record high, according to Reuters calculations. December had one more day than November.
Full-year output came in at 35.8 million tonnes in 2018, up 7.4 percent from the previous annual record in 2017. China added 3.8 million tonnes of aluminium smelting capacity in 2018, according to consultancy AZ China, while about 2.8 million tonnes was shut due to a slump in aluminium prices in the second half of the year. Winter restrictions on output were also less severe than expected.
Shanghai aluminium prices slipped by just 0.3 percent in December but slumped a hefty 14 percent over 2018 amid plentiful supply and worries over the impact of the Sino-US trade war on demand. Meanwhile, China's output of 10 nonferrous metals - including copper, aluminium, lead, zinc and nickel - came in at a record 5.08 million tonnes in December, up 7.8 percent from November and up 10 percent year-on-year.
Full-year output was up 6 percent at 56.88 million tonnes, also a record high. The other metals in the group are tin, antimony, mercury, magnesium and titanium.