Chalco Shuts 2 Aluminium Plants on Power Shortage

HONG KONG, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Aluminum Corp of China Ltd, also known as Chalco (2600.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (601600.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), said power shortages had effectively shut two plants that produced 15 percent of its primary aluminium in 2007.

Chalco is the main supplier of aluminium in China, which is the world's top producer and consumer of the metal.

Its two affected plants, Guizhou and Zunyi Aluminum, have an annual capacity of 320,000 tonnes and 110,000 tonnes respectively. Both were already running below full capacity because of power shortage.

Including Chalco's two plants, some 600,000 tonnes of Guizhou's total aluminium capacity of 700,000-800,000 tonnes has closed, smelter officials in Guizhou estimated. That would cause China to lose 50,000 tonnes of aluminium output per month, nearly 5 percent of China's output.

The power shortage in southwestern Guizhou province has reduced electricity supply to the two plants since December, Chalco said (www.chalco.com.cn). Chalco did not say how long the problem was expected to last or whether any other smelters were affected.

That situation has been escalating in January, it said.

Three pylons supporting electricity supply for the Anshun power network, which provides two-thirds of Guizhou's electricity, were damaged on Tuesday by heavy snow that had accumulated over several weeks, smelter sources in Guizhou said.

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