China sustained a surge in aluminium shipments to world markets in August as buyers sought supplies from the largest producer to replace metal from United Co. Rusal, which has been hit by US sanctions.
Exports of unwrought aluminium and products reached 517,000 metric tonnes, almost the same as the 520,000 tonnes in July, which was the highest total in more than three years, according to customs data on Saturday. Shipments exceeded 1.5 million tonnes in June through August, a record for a three-month period, and were up 15 per cent in the first eight months of the year.
Aluminium prices jumped in April after the US announced sanctions on Rusal, the top supplier outside of China, upending global supply chains that were already under pressure from lower output at Alunorte in Brazil. Billionaire Oleg Deripaska is negotiating with US authorities on a plan to lift the sanctions before an October deadline, but buyers have been jockeying for supplies in the meantime in case his measures don’t satisfy the US.
China has also been boosting exports of alumina, used to make aluminium, and shipments will probably keep expanding because of supply disruptions such as industrial action at Alcoa Corp’s plants in Australia, Aluminum Corp of China Ltd said this month. Outbound cargoes totalled more than 300,000 tonnes in the three months to July from about 11,000 tonnes in the same period last year.