Chalco to buy plants to meet aluminum demand

Aluminum Corp of China Ltd, or Chalco, the nation's largest maker of the metal, will buy processing plants from its parent to meet the domestic demand forecast of a 20 percent annual growth.

The Beijing-based company will buy the plants from Aluminum Corp of China in the next two to three years, Chairman Xiao Yaqing said yesterday. London aluminum prices may average as much as 7.9 percent higher this year, he said.

Xiao has at least $1.7 billion in cash to fund acquisitions and increase supplies to the Chinese economy, which expanded 10.7 percent last year, the fastest pace in 11 years.