China's aluminum industry still faces many challenges such as low-end overcapacity

On July 9, the 10th China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition was held in Shanghai. Ren Xudong, Executive Vice President of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said at the opening ceremony that China's aluminum industry still faces many challenges, such as low-end overcapacity, business difficulties, and expanding the scope of application.

As an important basic industrial raw material, aluminum plays a very important role in the national economy. In recent years, due to the construction market in China, the consulting, electric power and automobile industries have developed rapidly, and the demand for aluminum products in China has also rebounded to a certain extent.

Ren Xudong said that China's output of alumina, electrolytic aluminum and aluminum processing materials has ranked first in the world; Significant progress has been made in technical equipment, variety and quality, energy conservation and emission reduction; The quality of other high-end aluminum alloy materials, such as large industrial profiles and aluminum for easy opening cans, is also improving. From 2011 to 2013, the annual export volume of aluminum products was more than 3 million tons.

"However, there is still a gap between China's aluminum industry and the international advanced level in development. High precision aluminum materials are relatively lacking, and core key technologies need to be broken through." Ren Xudong said frankly, "One of the most important problems is aluminum overcapacity."

According to the data of China Research Network, the actual production of electrolytic aluminum in 2013 was 21.94 million tons, with an excess rate of more than 30%.

According to the analysis of relevant insiders, as a high energy consumption industry dominated by investment, the construction process of electrolytic aluminum is simple, the technical content is low, and the construction period is short. The electrolytic aluminum project also has a significant effect on stimulating local GDP growth. For every 10000 tons of capacity increase, the investment will increase by 100 million yuan.

At the same time, the employment technology threshold of electrolytic aluminum industry is relatively low, which can absorb a large number of local labor. Therefore, the electrolytic aluminum industry is welcomed by many local governments, and the aluminum output is relatively large. Some analysts said that at present, China's electrolytic aluminum overcapacity even exceeds that of the steel industry.

In addition, Ren Xudong also pointed out that the application rate of aluminum materials in China is relatively low compared with that in Western countries. "80% of the railway operating vehicles in the United States and Australia are aluminum alloy structures, while only 30000 of China's 80000 operating vehicles are aluminum structures; aluminum models for buildings are widely used in economically developed countries, and more than 70% of China's buildings are still using wood models."

"The high production capacity and low application rate have opened the gap between China's aluminum industry and the international advanced standards." Ren Xudong predicted that if China increases the application of aluminum in the field of transportation and construction and reaches the national level, there will be about 20 million tons of aluminum alloy materials in China that can be expanded. Ron Knapp, secretary-general of the International Aluminum Association, said that aluminum will play a crucial role in the process of sustainable development in the future.

It is reported that the 10th China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition covers all important links of the aluminum industry chain, involving all processes of production and processing, focusing on aluminum application products, aluminum surface treatment, aluminum plant equipment, machine accessories and many other varieties. Professionals pointed out that this exhibition will continue the advantageous position of China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition, and will pay more attention to aluminum deep processing products.