THE country’s aluminum output in June rose 1.6 percent from the previous month to 2.83 million tons, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed yesterday, as a gradual ramp-up of new smelting capacity raised production.

On a daily basis, the world’s top aluminum producer churned out 94,000 tons of the metal last month, compared with 90,000 tons in May, which had one extra day, according to calculations based on the data.

The daily figure is the highest since June 2017 and the second-highest ever, according to records based on NBS data.

However, the NBS said yesterday that June output was up 0.8 percent year on year. The data released in June 2017 preceded orders to close illegal smelting capacity in eastern China’s Shandong Province, as well as environmental restrictions on output in the autumn and winter seasons.

Jackie Wang, an analyst at CRU in Beijing, said production rose because of the recent launch of new smelting capacity in the Guangxi, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi regions rather than any incentive to export aluminum products.

However, the ramp-ups “are much slower than people′s expectations,” she added.

In the first six months of the year, China produced 16.47 million tons of aluminum, a rise of 1.6 percent from the same period last year, the NBS data showed.

Production of 10 nonferrous metals — including copper, aluminum, lead, zinc and nickel — rose 1.9 percent from a year earlier to 4.62 million tons in June, the highest level since December.

Year-to-date output was up 3.1 percent at 26.85 million tons. The other nonferrous metals are tin, antimony, mercury, magnesium and titanium.(SD-Agencies)