Alcan says China will lose its place in the aluminium race
March 16, 2004
Sydney - Fears that China is set to flood the world aluminium market are unfounded because demand generated by the country's blistering economic growth will absorb domestic supply by mid-decade, an industry conference in Australia was told Tuesday.
Alcan, one of the world's largest aluminium producers, said in a report circulated at the conference that China was unlikely to be an aluminium exporter by 2005.
The report said China had unsettled world markets in recent years by ramping up its aluminium production as industrialisation continued apace, accounting for 60 percent of the increase in global aluminium production in the first nine months of 2003.
At the same time, China's aluminium consumption - driven by increasing income per capita and urbanization - was set to outstrip production in the next few years, as power and investment costs increased.
"Given current expansion plans, China's alumina production should reach about eight million tonnes in 2005 while the country's alumina requirements are expected to exceed 16 million tonnes," Alcan said.
Meanwhile, Alcan's competitor Comalco, said it was responding to fundamental change in the alumina market by constructing a new alumina refinery at Gladstone in the Australia state of Queensland.
Comalco said the decision to build the new refinery reflected strong orders from Comalco's own smelters, long-term contracts with blue chip customers and the influence of fast growing markets in China and Russia. - AFP
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