China Aluminum Sector Still Suffering From Inefficiencies - Chalco Official

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's aluminum sector is suffering from inefficiencies including poor use of resources, wasteful energy consumption and high-polluting operators that are contributing to the country's competitive gap with more developed economies around the world, said Liu Xiangmin, vice president of Chalco.

"China's original extensive growth model afflicted with great consumption, massive emissions and lower efficiency has not yet undergone a substantial turnaround," Liu said.

Speaking at an industry conference, he added the status quo is hurting the bottom lines of Chinese miners of alumina and makers of finished aluminum.

"Lower utilization rates of resources and heavy pollution remain unchanged. The gap between China and 'advanced nations' remains relatively wide, and is hurting the competitiveness and profits of Chinese companies in the industry," he said.

Liu said that in response to these challenges, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) and parent Chinalco are "making strenuous efforts to develop a circular economy" that would more efficiently use both raw materials and energy.

He said the two firms are aiming to reduce energy consumption by 42 pct per unit volume of production, as well as improve capacity utilization by 50 pct.

"The measures we plan to implement could save 689,000 tons of standard coal annually," he said, without specifying a timetable.

He said Chinalco is targeting a 20 pct drop in energy consumption by 2010.

"We also encourage foreign cooperation in our energy saving development programs," he said, without elaborating.

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