Small Aluminum Firms in China Facing Reshuffle

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released the "Aluminum Industry Access Standard" on November 13, 2007, to set rules in terms of investment approval, registering, land use and the environmental impact assessments of aluminum mines, smelting and processing.

According to the NDRC, projects with investments higher than $66.7 million must get approval from the State Council, and smaller projects will need approval from provincial governments. The projects should also produce more than 300,000 tons of products every year for at least 15 years.

Aluminum oxide projects using domestic raw materials should have a capacity of more than 800,000 tons a year, with 85% or more of the raw materials coming from their own aluminum mines, which must serve more than three decades. Projects using imported raw materials should have a capacity of more than 600,000 tons a year, also with long-term supply contracts. Joint ventures should have supply contracts longer than five years.

For regenerative aluminum projects, new factories must be able to produce more than 50,000 tons of products. New aluminum processing projects should specialize in plate, belt, foil, extruded tube and industrial profiles. Integrated processing companies should produce at least 100,000 tons of products while single-product factories should produce at least 50,000 tons of plates or belts, 30,000 tons of foils and 50,000 tons of extruded profiles every year.

In terms of electricity consumption, renovated electrolytic aluminum items must consume less than 14,300 kilowatt-hours in producing 1 ton of aluminum, and power efficiency must reach 94%.

The NDRC also bans hydrometallurgy in producing fluorides and building independent carbon items smaller than 100,000 tons a year. The proportion of registered capital must be higher than 35% for aluminum mines, smelting and regenerative aluminum projects. The rules, if firmly implemented, will rule out a large amount of small aluminum factories, driving resources to large enterprises.

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