The global primary aluminum market continued to be in deficit during the first three quarters of this year. However, the market deficit narrowed slightly compared to the same period last year. This is in line with data published by the World Bureau of Metals Statistics (WBMS) in its report on the balance sheets of metals for the three quarters of 2017.
According to the WBMS report, the estimated market balance of the world's primary aluminum had a deficit of 1,463 thousand tonnes during the nine-month period of 2017. The deficit persists in connection with the expansion of the use of rolled aluminum, such as aluminum sheet, aluminum angle, channel, circle and other products in industry and construction. This is evidenced by the given METRENCENTR company for direct supplies of aluminum and other non-ferrous and ferrous metal products over the past period of the year.
In addition, the level of aluminum deficit in the global market at the end of the first three quarters of this year almost doubled from the level of the end of 2016. At the same time, the production of primary aluminum for the first nine months of this year increased by 1.130 million tons. It should be noted that at the end of 2016, stock levels reached 2,761 thousand tons. The combined stocks in London, Shanghai, the United States and Tokyo reached 1.848 million tonnes at the end of September, which is significantly lower by 476 thousand tonnes compared to December 2016.
World aluminum production
Total global production grew significantly by almost 2.6% in the nine months from January to September in 2017. China was the leading metal producer during this period. During this period, Chinese aluminum production was estimated at 24,661 thousand tons. In January-September 17, the country provided more than 56% of world aluminum production.
The WBMS report also states that global demand for aluminum in January-September 2017 increased by 1.877 million tons to 45.49 million tons, which is comparable to the corresponding nine-month period in 2016. Apparently, Chinese demand was marginally above 5.2% as in 2016. In addition, between January and September of this year, the demand for the EU-28 increased by 132 thousand tons, which is in line with the growth in 2016.
