Russian aluminum producer Rusal produced 931,000 mt of primary aluminum in the third quarter of 2017, the highest since 954,000 mt produced in Q3 2013, the company said Monday.
Output in Q3 was up 1.2% year on year, and rose by 1.1% from the previous quarter.
Aluminum sales in Q3 were 968,000 mt, down 1.3% year on year and lower by 3.4% from the previous quarter.
The decline from the previous quarter was attributed to more aluminum in transit due to port capacities and vessel availability.
Sales of value added products billet, foundry alloy and slab accounted for 50% of the total Q3 sales.
The average aluminum realized price was $2,124/mt in Q3, of which the London Metal Exchange component averaged $1,962/mt and average realized premium was $162/mt.
Rusal produced 1.97 million mt of alumina in Q3, up 5.4% from 1.87 million mt a year ago and up 1.9% from 1.93 million mt in Q2.
Rusal estimated global aluminum demand had grown by 5.9% year on year to 47.8 million mt in the first nine months of 2017, as a result of strong global demand.
