More than 80% of domestic electrolytic aluminum companies have suffered losses because they cannot bear the high price of upstream alumina. At the China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition Forum held yesterday, relevant experts revealed that six national ministries and commissions have recently completed the industry. The survey may make adjustments to industrial policies. At the same time, a person from China Aluminum Corporation Limited revealed that its 1.6 million tons alumina joint venture project with Brazil's CVRD has entered the stage of commercial negotiations.

　　According to the short-term goal of doubling GDP in 2010 from 2000, China’s economic growth rate will maintain 7% every year, while the average annual growth rate of aluminum consumption will exceed 10%. The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association predicts that the domestic aluminum consumption in 2010 will be around 10.5 million tons. Therefore, in recent years, the alumina and electrolytic aluminum industries have become one of the focuses of domestic capital. Subsequently, in August 2003, the state implemented macro-control on the three industries of iron and steel, electrolytic aluminum, and cement, so that the momentum of excessive investment in electrolytic aluminum was effectively curbed.

　　 The expert of the National Development and Reform Commission’s alumina research project team and the professor-level senior engineer of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association’s Industry Consulting Department said at the forum that the State Council meeting in April this year emphasized that the macro-control of high-energy-consuming industries cannot be relaxed. Downstream enterprises suffering from high-priced alumina are even more worried. "From the perspective of the industry, we don't want the country to introduce more stringent control policies when the industry is generally losing money. Relevant departments are now analyzing the results of recent investigations. "According to Lang Dazhan's estimate, due to the control of electrolytic aluminum projects, the alumina market may fall steadily next year.

　　 Previously, the country had cancelled the 8% export tax rebate for aluminum and its alloys, and increased export tariffs by 5%. At the same time, the price of electricity for production has been raised, which has caused most relevant companies to cut production and stop production one after another.

　　 Aluminum Corporation of China is in a monopoly position in the domestic alumina production, supply and marketing, so the cost pressure it faces is far lower than its domestic counterparts. Ding Haiyan, assistant to the general manager of the company, said that the current losses of most electrolytic aluminum producers are mainly due to the high alumina price caused by strong market demand. In addition, the electricity cost of electrolytic aluminum enterprises has also increased significantly after macro-control. "I don't think that Chinalco's unilateral price cut will save the market. The price of imported alumina is still higher than ours. In addition, even if we can supply alumina at a lower price, traders will speculate and raise the price. "Lang Dazhan pointed out that now relying solely on imports cannot alleviate the domestic alumina gap. "On the one hand, the import volume is too large, and there is no aluminum available in the international market. On the other hand, China's imports will inevitably increase the international market price. "While domestic companies "going out", equity participation or acquisition of overseas mining enterprises is a practice encouraged by the government.

　　The National Development and Reform Commission regards Chalco as the representative of the entire industry “going out”, so it is very supportive of participating in overseas projects. At present, the acquisition of the aluminum ore project in Queensland, Australia is still in the stage of multi-party bidding. Aluminum Corporation of China is facing challenges from strong enemies such as Alcoa, Rusal, and Alcoa.

　　 Ding Haiyan revealed that another 1.6 million-ton alumina project in Brazil between Chalco and the international mining giant CVRD in Brazil has now entered the stage of business negotiations.

　　 Previously, China Minmetals Group purchased Alcoa's 400,000 tons of alumina production capacity in Australia, and in 2004 it also controlled the American Sherwin Alumina Plant with an annual output of 1.6 million tons of alumina. Some electrolytic aluminum production enterprises have invested and cooperated with neighboring countries with rich bauxite resources such as Vietnam and India to build alumina production bases in an orderly manner.