Chalco scales down production

ALUMINUM Corp of China Ltd, the nation's biggest producer of the metal, yesterday said it has idled 38 percent of its alumina capacity because of falling prices and demand.

Chalco, as the Beijing-based company is known, had shut 4.11 million metric tons of annual production capacity as of Wednesday, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company didn't say what the operating capacity was before the latest cut, according to Bloomberg News.

Chalco, Alcoa Inc and Rio Tinto Group are shutting smelters after the metal plunged by about a third in three months. The global credit crunch and the economic slowdown are curbing demand from manufacturers, car makers and builders.

The latest reduction is because of the "impact of aluminum production cuts and the low price of alumina," Chalco said in the statement. Two tons of alumina are needed to make one ton of aluminum.

Chalco fell 12 percent yesterday in Hong Kong trading to HK$2.86 (37 US cents), taking its loss this year to 82 percent. Its shares dropped 3 percent to 6.09 yuan (89 US cents) in Shanghai.

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