This Morning in Metals: Global alumina production rises in August

alumina refinery line
Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery. Source: Norsk Hydro

This morning in metals news: global alumina production rose 2.7% year over year in August; China’s industrial profits fell through the first eight months of the year; and nickel prices have taken a dive over the last month.
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Global alumina production rises in August

Global alumina production in August reached 11,366 metric tons, the International Aluminum Institute reported.
Production of the aluminum raw material was about flat with the previous month. However, August production rose 2.7% year over year, up from 11,079 metric tons in August 2019.
Meanwhile, China’s alumina production totaled 5,910 metric tons in August.

Chinese industrial profits down 4.4%

Although China has bounced back economically in many respects, its industrial profits fell 4.4% during the first eight months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported.
As for metals sectors, profit from the ferrous metal smelting and processing industry decreased by 23.1%. Nonferrous metal smelting and processing industry profits fell 5.6%. Non-metallic mineral products industry profits decreased by 3.8%.

Nickel price falls

After rising consistently since late March, the nickel price took a step back in September.
The LME three-month nickel price closed Monday at $14,405 per metric ton, or down 5.52% compared with a month ago.
The price surged as high as $15,671 per metric ton as of Sept. 2, the high for 2020. As for the 2020 low, the LME three-month zinc price dipped as low as $11,142 per metric ton March 23.
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