Chalco targets 30,000-50,000 tonnes of alumina exports in May: Source says

Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) targets to export 30,000-50,000 tonnes of alumina in May, company’s president reported to Reuters on Thursday, May 17, 2018.

Lu Dongliang, the vice president of Chalco also confirmed the news while speaking on the sidelines of the LME Asia Week conference in Hong Kong, adding, that its overall exports of raw materials, used for smelting aluminium, would be a little higher this month.

Lu was, however, unable to say that to which countries China was exporting its alumina, explaining, “We sell to international companies and they do it.”

Lu also could not give an estimation of Chalco’s total alumina exports in 2018, since the company evaluates the market situation only on a monthly basis. He added that the company could export a portion of its alumina production if required.

On questioning about Chalco’s possibility to be in contact with Rusal and whether the Russian company could ship more metal to China in light of the US sanctions, Lu commented that it’s a sensitive subject and thus would not prefer to remark on this.

According to him, the effect of 10 per cent imported aluminium tariffs by the US would not be a matter of concern for Chalco, since China’s total alumina exports to the US would not be above 500,000 tonnes.

Lu also put the group’s aluminium smelting capacity at over 5 million tonnes. No new smelting capacity additions are planned for this year, he added.