Chinalco’s President Zhu Runzhou identifies three major strategic options for China’s aluminium industry

On December 6th, the Aluminum Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association held the "2023 Aluminum Industry Chain Market Operation Analysis Report Conference" in Nanning. Zhu Runzhou, President of China Aluminum Corporation, presented three opinions during his speech. 

China's aluminium industry chain is currently presented with three significant strategic opportunities:

• The high demand for green and low-carbon development and high-end material development creates a strong market driving force.
• The upgrading and iteration of information technology necessitate the speedy construction of a modern aluminium industry system characterized by intelligence, greenness, and integration.
• The new development pattern with domestic circulation as the primary body and domestic and international dual circulation promoting each other opens up a broader development space, paving the way for a bright future for the industry.

The development of a modern aluminium industry system is of utmost importance at present. The first step is to establish a robust foundation for the construction of this industry. China has a well-established aluminium industry, with a complete industrial system that is proud and large-scale and has been leading the world in production and consumption for a long time. With the achievement of a historic leap in production technology, the industry is now poised for high-quality development. The second step is to expedite the upgrade of industrial infrastructure and the modernization of the supply chain. 

The development of China's aluminium industry is currently facing several significant challenges, such as low resource security, immense pressure for energy conservation, carbon reduction, and green transformation, insufficient independent innovation and intelligent development, and some key materials being "choked." To overcome these challenges, it is essential that the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain work together to establish a resilient and complete industrial chain supply chain, build a modern aluminium industry system, and lay a solid foundation for safe development.

Zhu Runzhou narrated: "We must consistently make technological innovation the top priority, form a group of forward-looking, breakthrough, and disruptive technologies, and create a source of original technology for the world's aluminium industry; Seize the opportunity of digital transformation, vigorously implement the digital transformation strategy, and comprehensively improve the level of digitalization in the aluminium industry."

"Our third goal is to enhance our ability to create value by benchmarking world-class enterprise value-creation actions and continually improving our total factor productivity. To achieve this, we will focus on integrating and developing the modern aluminium industry chain, creating a new pattern of industry chain integration and development with "industry chain integration, platform sharing, and business form symbiosis," he added. 

"This will help us seek new opportunities for cooperative development and drive high-quality development for China's aluminium industry," the President spoke. 

The aluminium market experiences cyclical fluctuations, which requires the industry to find ways to cope with the challenges. One strategy is to accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation and development, including coordinating the endowment of domestic clean energy factors and reasonably laying out the production capacity of green aluminium. It also involves promoting green investment, production, circulation, and consumption in all aspects and processes and establishing a green supply chain management system. 

Another strategy is to firmly implement the innovation-driven strategy and explore ways to enhance the industry's competitiveness. Nonetheless, China is looking forward to building a state-of-the-art aluminium industry that can maintain the country's high-value production rate.

If you wish to have a global perspective of the aluminium industry, please have a look at AL Circle's specially formulated report, Global Aluminium Industry - Key Trends to 2030.