Seventeen Chinese electrolysis aluminum companies have reduced output by 10 percent, or 335,000 tons, in the past month, in a move to ease soaring aluminum prices in China.

An official with the Chinese Association of Nonferrous Metals Industry said in Beijing Thursday that the effects of the output reduction by most Chinese electrolysis aluminum companies have been seen in the domestic and international aluminum oxide and electrolysis aluminum markets.

Wen Xianjun, vice dean of the Association's coordination department, said the price of imported aluminum oxide currently stands at around US$600 per ton, but no further rises are expected in the near future.

The global aluminum price has reached a 17-year high of over US$2,320 per ton, and China's domestic aluminum price is at 19,000 yuan (about US$2,354) per ton.

Wen said the aluminum price trend in China will hinge on the results of output reductions by Chinese aluminum companies in the future.

On December 1 2005, China's 23 large-scale electrolysis aluminum companies convened in Beijing and promised to jointly reduce production this year to lower the price.

With a total production capacity of six million tons, the 23 companies turn out approximate 55 percent of China's national aluminum output.

Besides the original 17 companies, six other aluminum companies also plan to reduce their production this year, according to the Association.

China is now the world's second-largest user of aluminum. Its high-speed economic growth fuels demand for the metal in construction, cars and home-appliances.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2006)