China’s May Aluminium Exports reach high
In the face of a global market struggling under the trio of burdens of Trump’s aluminium tariffs, American tariffs on Chinese aluminium foil, and Rusal’s sanctions, China’s exports of raw and processed aluminium reached multi-year highs in May. China’s General Administration of Customs said that the country’s total exports in the month came to 485 thousand metric tons, accounting for the second-highest total in the administration’s record-keeping history. Last month’s output beat April’s total of 451 thousand metric tons by 7.5 percent and bested last May’s shipments of 430 thousand metric tons by 12.8 percent. May’s bumper output was out-shined only by the production recorded in December 2014 of 542,700 metric tons. Many aluminium experts have pointed to the Trump tariffs as playing into the hands of Chinese producers, as China exports almost no raw aluminium to the States. The prospect of a sudden glut of ex-China production and corresponding overflow of supply set the stage for a fall in price, which experts warn is likely to entice otherwise loss-making aluminium smelting capacity in the Middle Kingdom out of its slumber.
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