London 28/07/2016 - Russia's UC Rusal's aluminium production in the second quarter of the year was flat at 919,000 tonnes compared with the previous quarter, it said.
It's second quarter aluminium sales also remained relatively flat, quarter-on-quarter, totalling 958,000 tonnes, it said in a release on Thursday.
In the first half of the year, Rusal produced 1.835 million tonnes of aluminium, up 1.2 percent year-on-year. Aluminium sales increased by five percent year-on-year to 1.915 million tonnes in the half year to June, due largely to the addition of the Boguchansky smelter volumes, it added.
Rusal said aluminium prices were improving due to "the growing metal deficit, particularly in China, strong growth in global manufacturing activity and improved investor sentiment towards base commodities."
Three-month aluminium on the LME recently traded at $1,600 per tonne, up $8 on the previous close.
(Editing by Martin Hayes)