China ministry cuts 2010 aluminium output forecast

ZHENGZHOU, China, Oct 26 - China will produce 16 million tonnes of primary aluminium this year, an official from the Ministry of Industry said on Tuesday, signalling a cut from the previous forecast of 17 million tonnes.

Zhang Fenghui, a director at the ministry, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference that Henan province, which has already closed 700,000 tonnes of annual capacity, would close more in the fourth quarter, bringing the total to 1 million tonnes by the end of the year.

Output would rise early in 2011 as the pressure to save power subsided, he said, but the country would close a further 700,000 tonnes of capacity.

Zhang said that China's current annual smelting capacity was 21.1 million tonnes, and another 2.4 million tonnes was under construction, with a further 7 million tonnes planned by 2015, so the total would reach 30.5 million tonnes by then.

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