Rusal's Q2 aluminum output down 1.4% from Q1 at 927,000 mt

Hong Kong — United Company Rusal's April-June aluminum production totaled 927,000 mt, down 1.4% from the first quarter's 940,000 mt, the Russian aluminum producer said July 27.

The three-month output brought Rusal's January-June 2020 aluminum production to 1.87 million mt, unchanged from H1 2019.

Rusal's Q2 aluminum sales posted a 6.8% quarterly increase to 976,000 mt, though yearly comparison still showed a 9.8% drop. H1 2020 sales shrank 4.4% from a year earlier to 1.89 million mt.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rusal said its value-added aluminum (VAP) products sales slipped 14% from Q1 to 363,000 mt in Q2.

Owing to its diversified client base, Rusal adjusted its Q2 regional sales geography in line with the new market environment caused by COVID-19.

European destinations decreased in Rusal's overall sales share to 46% in Q2, down 9 percentage point from Q1, while Asia's Q2 share gained 12 percentage points to 27%.

"This shift reflects less severe lockdown measures in Asia and one-off arbitrage opportunity in China," Rusal noted.

Meanwhile, H1 2020 global aluminum production grew 1.8% yearly to 32.1 million mt, versus a 6.6% annual decline in demand to 30.3 million mt, thus resulting in a 1.8 million mt surplus.

China produced 2.8% more aluminum in H1 at 18.2 million mt, against stable demand of 18 million mt. H1 production in the rest of the world edged 0.5% higher to 13.9 million mt, though H1 demand slumped 15.4% yearly to 12.3 million mt.

"Manufacturing conditions continued to recover all over the world following the severe disruption caused by COVID-19 over H1... Although a potential second wave of COVID-19 continues to cause some uncertainty in the market, most countries are more optimistic towards H2 2020," the report said.