China aluminium stocks rise more than 45 percent

* China aluminium stocks rise more than 40 pct to 1.6 mln t

* Fabricators keen to export semi-finished products on prices

By Polly Yam

HONG KONG, April 14 (Reuters) - Primary aluminium stocks in China, the world's top consumer and producer of the metal, have risen more than 45 percent from January on increased production, traders and smelter officials said on Wednesday.

Stocks of about 1.6 million tonnes of primary aluminium, 1.2 times China's February output, may be now stored in warehouses, fabricating plants and smelters compared to about 1.1 million tonnes in late January, they estimated.

"Stocks would rise further,” an administration official at a large smelter in Henan said, adding some warehouses in Guangdong province and Shanghai city refused to accept new orders because they are overloaded with the metal.

A trader in Guangdong's Nanhai city, one of China's main aluminium consuming areas, said warehouse operators had asked smelters not send supplies for storage. More than 300,000 tonnes of the metal may be stored in Guangdong, he estimated.

A key reason aluminium supplies increased in February is because smelters stayed open and fabricators shut for the Lunar New Year holiday, traders and smelter officials said.

Daily aluminium output in February this year rose to about 46,714 tonnes versus 40,710 tonnes in January and 44,148 tonnes in December when the monthly output hit a record of 1.37 million tonnes.

But demand for aluminium was not as strong as many had expected, they said.

"Credit tightening has obviously affected demand in past two months,” the official in the Henan smelter said.

Net new lending of Chinese banks slowed last month to 510.7 billion yuan ($75 billion), well below forecasts of a 750 billion yuan rise and February's total of 700.1 billion, the People's Bank of China said on Monday.

"The supply growth has surpassed demand. End users have no rush to buy,” a sales manager at a large Chinese smelter said.

EXPORTS?

As a result of the excess supply, Chinese smelters may see a rare chance to export primary aluminium if London Metal Exchange prices gain further and domestic prices remain weak, the sales manager said.

LME aluminium has risen 9.6 percent so far this year at $2,444 per tonne on Wednesday, partly supported by RUSAL's attempt to launch an aluminium exchange-traded fund (ETF) which could see a million tonnes or more of metal to be locked up.

Aluminium prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have fallen 1.3 percent this year at 16,935 yuan in Wednesday morning session.

Smelter export prices now stand at more than $300 per tonne lower than the prices they sold domestically on Wednesday, due to a 15 percent export tax, traders said.

But fabricators were already raising exports of tax-free aluminium plates for which they received full rebates of the local 17 percent value-added tax.

China's exports of aluminium plates, sheets and strips rose 106 percent to 107,848 tonnes in the first two months this year.

Traders said increased supplies of the Chinese semi-finished products had pushed down premiums for good Western primary aluminium to about $110 per tonne over cash LME aluminium  for spot shipments to South Korea and Hong Kong, from about $130 in January.

(Editing by Ed Lane)