Bauxite production and alumina refining capacity have increased immensely across the major alumina producing regions of the world. Aluminium production has skyrocketed in Asia in the last one decade and China is currently producing about 53% of the total aluminium production. This gives a clear idea about the huge amount of alumina being consumed in China.
Currently, China has 79.25 million tonnes of annual alumina capacity as reported in the end of 2016. According to the aluminium sector report from Antaike, state-run metals consultancy firm in Beijing, published on Thursday, China is expected to add 6.65 million tonnes per year of new alumina capacity in 2017, mostly in North China, Central China and Northwest China. The top alumina producers henceforth are from this part of the world. Here is a list of the top five alumina producers from China.
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Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chinalco and also known as Chalco), is the world's second-largest alumina producer and China’s largest alumina producer. Chalco posted profits of 330 million yuan ($49.4 million) during the first half of 2016, the highest level in almost five years, attributed mostly to the reduction in the CoP of alumina and aluminium. The company owns the maximum number of alumina refineries in China. The group owns Guizhou Alumina, Pingguo Alumina, Shandong Alumina, Zhengzhou and Zhongzhou Alumina Refinery and Shanxi Alumina and has an annual capacity of about 10 million tons of alumina.
Luneng Jinbei - Yuanping Alumina Refinery, owned by Shanxi Luneng Jinbei Aluminum Comany Limited is an alumina refinery in Shanxi and has an annual production of 600,000 tonnes.
Shandong Xinfa Aluminium Group is another key player in the China alumina industry, currently leveraging on the robust demand for the mineral in the domestic market. The company has an annual capacity of about 2.3 million tons of alumina.
A subsidiary of China Hongqiao Group, which became the world’s largest supplier of primary aluminium, Shandong Weiqiao has come under fire for restarting alumina capacity. Shandong Weiqiao says that it plans to have a production of between four and five million tons per annum after five months of construction of their new plant in Indonesia's Borneo. Currently, the producer has an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons.
Hangzhou Jinjiang Group owns a number of alumina production lines and produces smelter-grade sandy alumina. The Group has recently set up a joint venture company with Aluminum Corporation of China, or Chalco, named- Huajin Aluminum, to build an alumina plant in Baiyun District of southwest China's Guizhou province, at a total cost of around Yuan 3.8 billion ($608 million). The Qingzhen Alumina Project, comprising the 800,000 mt/year alumina plant, will take 12 months to complete.
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China’s national alumina production in 2018 is expected to be 72.5 million tonnes, up 6.9% from an estimated 67.8 million tonnes in 2017. Antaike has forecast China’s alumina supply in 2018 to be 76.5 million tonnes, up 7% from estimated 71.4 million tonnes in 2017. On the other hand, as part of its efforts to control pollution in northern China, Government has proposed cuts to aluminium and alumina capacity by 30% and 50%, respectively, in "Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and surrounding areas. The final outcome will come only towards the end of the current fiscal year.
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