China Hongqiao shifts 1.5 mln T aluminium capacity to Yunnan so far

China Hongqiao

13/09/2023 11:16

By Eric Onstad
       BARCELONA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China Hongqiao Group
 1378.HK  has fired up 1.5 million metric tons of aluminium
smelting capacity in the country's southwest where it aims to
move 4 million tons by end-2025 to take advantage of low-carbon
energy, an executive said on Wednesday.
    This will slash carbon emissions of the capacity being moved
to Yunnan province by 30% by end-2023, the first step in
eventually shifting all of Hongqiao's smelting away from
coal-fired energy, Ron Knapp, special adviser to the company
said.
    The world's top private aluminium producer plans to move 2
million metric tons of capacity to Yunnan from northern Shandong
province by the end of the year and 4 million tons by the end of
2025. The firm produced 6 million tons in 2022.
    "That's the first step to get us out of coal," Knapp told
Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of Fastmarkets
aluminium conference in Barcelona. "We are committed to hit peak
carbon by 2025."
    Power is the largest component of carbon emissions, but
aluminium operations also emit CO2 from carbon anodes, transport
and raw materials alumina and bauxite.
    The sixth potline of the company's new operations in Yunnan,
a region with abundant hydro power, is almost finished as part
of the shift, he added.
    The wider situation in Yunnan is back to normal in terms of
hydro power availability after recent disruptions to power
supply in the province due to lower-than-usual rainfall this
year, Knapp said.
    "There's plenty of water at the moment ... people are saying
about 2 million tons have come online (in Yunnan) after the
restrictions were lifted," he said.
    That included both existing capacity restarts and output
ramping up from new smelters that had been on hold, Knapp added.
    Hongqiao's other coal-fired smelters will not necessarily be
moved to Yunnan, but to where renewable energy can be sourced,
he said.

 (Reporting by Eric Onstad; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((eric.onstad@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7093; Twitter https://twitter.com/reutersEricO;
 Reuters Messaging: eric.onstad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))