China Hongqiao to move aluminium smelting capacity to Yunnan province

China Hongqiao

28/12/2021 04:10

Dec 28 (Reuters) - The world's top private aluminium
producer China Hongqiao Group  1378.HK  plans to move 1.93
million tonnes of aluminium capacity to the Honghe prefecture in
southwest Yunnan province, a local government notice showed. 
    According to a statement issued by the Yunnan industry
department, the aluminium giant aims to relocate capacity from
six projects in its Shandong units to Yunnan Honghe New Material
Co via a capacity swap plan. 
    Hongqiao had pledged to move around 2 million tonnes of its
annual capacity from eastern Shandong province to Yunnan's
Wenshan prefecture for easier access to hydropower, a cleaner
source than coal. Reuters reported in May that the company was
considering relocating more capacity to Honghe prefecture.
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    That suggested more than 60% of the company's 6.46 million
tonnes of licensed annual primary aluminium capacity will be
located in Yunnan. 
    Yunnan is home to around 10% of China's aluminium capacity.
It depends on hydropower for 75% of its electricity, though
output from hydro plants had been falling for two straight
months in October and November both on a monthly and annual
basis. 
    The relocation plan was postponed due to power curbs imposed
by the provincial government earlier this year, though the
company had been in communication with authorities to make it
happen, Hongqiao Chairman Zhang Bo said in October.
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    The project, which is open to public feedback until January
7, is expected to start construction in March and will be put
into production in Mar. 2023, the statement showed. 

 (Reporting by Min Zhang and Tom Daly; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
 ((min.zhang@thomsonreuters.com; (8610) 5669-2105;))