As the 2026 Chinese New Year break approaches, SMM conducted a special survey on the production arrangements during the holiday period among some domestic aluminium processing enterprises. Currently, high aluminium prices have heightened the wait-and-see sentiment among downstream enterprises. Combined with factors such as weakened demand, reduced orders, and logistics suspensions during the holiday, these have become the core drivers affecting production arrangements. The detailed survey results for each segment are summarised as follows:
SMM surveyed 29 extrusion enterprises regarding their Chinese New Year break arrangements, involving a total capacity of approximately 7.11 million tonnes. Overall, the average holiday duration for the sample enterprises was about 15.9 days. Among them, 41 per cent of enterprises had longer breaks compared to the same period last year, 28 per cent had holiday durations basically flat with previous years, and 31 per cent had shorter breaks Y-o-Y. Enterprises extending their breaks were mainly those producing construction profiles, with an average break of 22 days; some even suspended all production in February. Enterprises working overtime to ensure delivery were primarily industrial extrusion producers, supported by robust new energy orders such as PV and batteries. PV frame profile manufacturers maintained partial production lines during the holiday. Post-holiday, with the peak season of “Golden March, Silver April,” the export rush window for new energy products, and a pullback in aluminium prices, orders previously held back by a wait-and-see approach are expected to be gradually released, supporting the operating rate of enterprises.