Chalco and Shenhua Group to build 4 million-tpy alumina JV in Hebei

Chalco, China’s aluminum giant, recently inked an agreement with Shenhua Group to jointly come up with an alumina project in Hebei Province of North China. The project will be build in partnership with the the provincial government. The three parties have agreed to build the alumina project at Huanghua port in Cangzhou city.

The joint venture, with total investment at 10 billion yuan, will have a capacity of 4 million tonnes of alumina per annum. The project will source its main raw material- bauxite ore imported from the Port of Huanghua and sell its product primarily to central and west China, such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. The plant would boost demand for bauxite in China, which is already the world's biggest buyer of the ore.

The first phase of the 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) project is expected to be completed in 2016, with 2 million tonnes of annual capacity.

The new alumina plant is set to increase capacity in China, the world's top alumina producer with an annual operating production capacity of 56 million tonnes in July, according to government figures.