China's alumina output this year would reach 13 million tons and the earlier estimates of 14 million tons in 2010 were "obviously too low," an industry association official has said.

 

Accoroding to Wen Xianjun, secretary-general of the aluminium branch of the China Non-ferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA), China's alumina output was 9.44 million tons in the first nine months, up 57 percent from the same period last year.

 

Imports of alumina had dropped by 1.5 percent from a year ago with the country's dependence on imported alumina falling from 45 to 36 percent.

 

The world's second largest alumina producer, China accounted for more than 24 percent of the world's alumina consumption last year.

 

Alumina is a major raw material for producing electrolytic aluminium, accounting for more than half the cost.

 

The government reduced the import tariff of alumina from 5.5 percent to three percent this month to lower cost pressure on of the electrolytic aluminium industry.

 

The development of the alumina industry must be in line with the pace of the electrolytic aluminium industry, said Wen.

 

Both industries were characterised by high energy consumption and serious pollution.

 

As the top producer of electrolytic aluminium, China saw a general loss in the industry last year because of surplus production capacity.

 

The government has taken a series of measures, including increasing minimum capital for new projects, improving environmental requirements and increasing export tariffs.

 

Association statistics show China's output of electrolytic aluminium was 6.71 million tons in the first three quarters, up 16.8 percent from the same period last year. The growth is 1.7 percentage points lower than a year ago.

 

Exports of electrolytic aluminium dropped by 26.3 percent from the first three quarters of last year to 674,000 tons.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2006)