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According to SMM statistics, the total production of primary aluminium outside China reached 7,461.5 kilo metric tonnes (kmt) in the first quarter of 2024. The Middle East contributed 23% or 1.72 million tonnes of the total. Following closely were Russia and India, producing 1,023 kmt and 1,025 kmt respectively, each accounting for about 14% of the total output in the rest of world. The average capacity utilisation rate for overseas regions was approximately 88%. Both the Middle East and India achieved full operating rates, while South America reported the lowest capacity utilisation rate at 64.7%. South America The low utilisation rate in South America is mainly due to the inefficient smelter in Venezuela. The Venalum smelter have operated in a precarious condition since 2009 due to lack of investment and economic mismanagement, eventually shutting down completely at March 2019 following a power outage. However, Venalum announced a resumption in November 2021. But the utilisation rate eventually only returned to around 20% since then. Another Venezuelan smelter, Alcasa, has been running at a very low efficiency as well. However, there was a 4.7% year-on-year increase in primary aluminium production in South America over the first quarter of this year. This increase was primarily due to Alcoa's Alumar smelter in Brazil, which restarted production in the second quarter of 2022 after announcing the restart of 447,000 tonnes of idle capacity in September 2021. According to the quarterly report of South32, another stakeholder, the restart of the Alumar smelter added only 5,000 tonnes per quarter. The facility's annual output for 2023 was approximately 238 kmt, and the year-end capacity utilisation rate recovered to about 58%. By the end of the first quarter of 2024, SMM estimates that the smelter's capacity utilisation rate improved to around 64%, with a production of approximately 71 kmt.