That represented a year-on-year decline of 0.7%. Production of aluminium outside of China totalled 24.43 million tonnes last year, according to figures from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI).

It's been going on for ages now, but it is becoming ever starker. This polarity of global aluminium production is nothing new. Only an accelerating outflow of semi-manufactured products, some of which challenge the definition of what is a 'product', is preventing things from getting even worse. The Shanghai aluminium price is accordingly bombed out to the point that at least half of the country's total operating capacity is running at a loss, according to some estimates. The Chinese aluminium smelter sector remains profoundly ill-disciplined with older zombie smelters kept alive by local governments and new capacity still coming on stream. These still weigh heavily over the aluminium price in the form of millions of tonnes of accumulated surplus. Such enlightenment has taken several years to achieve and marks only the very first step towards correcting the mistakes of the past.

One hand clapping price