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Aluminium surplus fell 69% in 2009, says WBMS

March 18, 2010 - 16:30 GMT Location: London

KEYWORDS: aluminium , copper , zinc , nickel , lead , tin , world bureau of metal statistics

The primary aluminium market surplus fell 69% to 587,000 tonnes in 2009 from 1.88 million tonnes in 2008, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS)

Demand for primary aluminium was 36.06 million tonnes, 1.32 million tonnes less than in 2008, WBMS said in a recent report. Production fell by 2.62 million tonnes to 36.64 million tonnes compared with the corresponding period of 2008, it added. Total reported stocks rose slightly during December and ended the month at just over 6.48 million tonnes, equivalent to about 63 days’ demand. Total stocks held in the four exchanges in London, Shanghai, USA and Tokyo rose by a further 52,000 tonnes and ended the month at 4.9 million tonnes, almost double the equivalent total recorded a year earlier. Global producer stocks at the end of last year stood at 1.2 million tonnes, 473,000 tonnes below the previous year’s close. The WBMS does not make an allowance for unreported stock changes, especially those held in China. Overall, global production for the year fell by 6.7% compared with 2008. Chinese output...

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