In the first quarter of 2020 the world demand for aluminum fell by 6.4 percent, down to 14.43 million tonnes. In China, the demand fell by 6.3 percent down to 7.83 million tonnes, while in the rest of the world it fell by 6.5 percent down to 6.6 million tonnes.
According to Rusal, the transport sector became most affected by the coronavirus pandemic because automobile giants across the world halted production.
Meanwhile, world aluminum supplies continued to rise in January-March increasing by 3.5 percent up to 16.12 million tonnes and leading to a surplus of 1.7 million tonnes, Rusal said.
The Russian aluminum giant increased aluminum production by 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2020 (as compared to the same period last year), up to 940,000 tonnes, while the company’s aluminum sales went up 2 percent.