Aluminium output growth slowing down By Simon Casey (Bloomberg News) Updated: 2005-09-29 08:35
China's aluminium industry, the world's largest, is expanding at a slower
rate after tax breaks were ended and lending tightened, said the Chinese
Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, which implements government policy.
The nation's output of the lightweight metal used in cars and aircraft will
grow 15 per cent this year to 7.7 million metric tons, said Pan Jiazhu,
vice-president of the association. That compares with an average annual increase
over the last five years of 21 per cent, said Pan, speaking on Tuesday in
Atlanta at Metal Bulletin's International Aluminium Conference.
China is trying to slow the expansion of its aluminium industry to conserve
energy and improve efficiency. The industry uses 4.4 per cent of the nation's
electricity, Pan said. Eighty per cent of Chinese aluminium producers are
unprofitable, said Macquarie Bank in a report last month, citing government
data.
The forecast is higher than an August growth estimate of 10 per cent made by
Wang Gongmin, deputy chairman of the association. China's aluminium production
in the first eight months of the year rose 21 per cent from a year earlier to
4.8 million tons, according to the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics.
China will next month announce guidelines to curb capacity expansion and rein
in exports of the lightweight metal, Wang Feihong, an analyst with Beijing
Antaike Information Development Co said in an interview. The guidelines will
include minimum capacity requirements for new aluminium projects, according to
Wang, who has seen a copy of the guidelines. Antaike is a research affiliate of
the association.
The government has limited credit available to aluminium producers and
tightened planning regulations for new plants. Pan said the government would
formalize the abolition of tax exemptions next month for producers who import
raw materials and export finished metal, a process known as "tolling."
Chinese aluminium exports will shrink as the rate of production growth slows
while domestic demand rises, Pan said. Usage will total 6.8 million tons this
year, leaving a surplus for export of 900,000 tons. By 2010 consumption will
have increased to 10.5 million tons, beating China's output by 600,000 tons.
Imports of aluminium will drop in the next five years as companies such as
Aluminium Corp of China Ltd, also known as Chalco, boost output and reduce the
nation's reliance on sales from foreign companies. China's output of the raw
material used to make aluminium will grow to 16.8 million tons in 2010 compared
with 8.2 million tons this year, Pan said.
(China Daily 09/29/2005 page11)
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