Industry Experts: The Key to Resolving Aluminum Overcapacity is to Expand Applications

As a global producer, processor and consumer of aluminum, China is facing the challenge of overcapacity in the low-end aluminum industry. Ren Xudong, executive vice president of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said in Shanghai on the 9th that the key to resolving aluminum excess capacity is to expand its application.

Ren Xudong made the above statement at the opening ceremony of the 10th China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition held on that day.

Ren Xudong said that China is a big country in the aluminum industry, with production in alumina and other fields ranking first in the world. From 2011 to 2013, China's annual exports of aluminum have reached about 3 million tons.

At the same time, he also admitted that there is still a gap between the current level of China's aluminum industry and the international advanced level, and the core key technologies still need to be broken. Low-end overcapacity, business difficulties, and the scope of application need to be expanded are the major challenges faced by China's aluminum industry.

The data shows that since 2013, a total of more than 3.7 million tons of electrolytic aluminum production capacity have been dismantled in various parts of China, but the existing production capacity still exceeds 30 million tons. "The key to resolving the surplus is to expand the application." Ren Xudong said.

Ren Xudong, for example, said that the average amount of aluminum used by passenger cars in developed countries reached 145 kilograms, compared with 105 kilograms in China. Similar situations also appear in the construction of templates. If the application of aluminum in the transportation and construction fields can reach the level of developed countries, the application of aluminum alloy [colored business opportunities: aluminum alloy ingots] in China can be expanded by approximately 20 million tons.

Ren Xudong revealed that the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association is actively seeking to include aluminum expansion applications in the "13th Five-Year Plan" that is being formulated. "The development of China's aluminum industry is basically good, and the huge potential of the consumer market is expected to promote the healthy development of the aluminum industry."

In response to the development trend of the industry, the 10th China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition that is being held has changed the presentation of the entire industry chain in the past and has focused on deep processing products. The aluminum deep-processing product display area and aluminum packaging exhibition area set up at the exhibition showcased cutting-edge aluminum application products in hot areas such as transportation, consumer electronics, new energy, machinery, and construction.

The five forums held at the same time during the exhibition invited many experts and industry professionals to “see” the application prospects of aluminum. The topics of the forum included special vehicles aluminum alloy, aluminum packaging, architectural aluminum templates, and aluminum deep processing.

The three-day exhibition brought together 500 industry leaders from more than 30 countries and regions. The organizer expects that there will be more than 16,000 professional visitors and buyers.