Electrolytic aluminum project accelerates the west transfer

Western electrolytic aluminum construction is conversely accelerated. In recent years, although the relevant national ministries and commissions have successively issued a number of documents to curb excess production capacity and redundant construction in the electrolytic aluminum industry, electrolytic aluminum production capacity has been steadily rising in the process of western transfer. It is worth noting that the current approval system has not played a role in curbing the blind expansion of electrolytic aluminum, and over 85% of the projects that have been built have not been approved by the relevant state departments.

The western transfer of the west-based electrolytic aluminum project has accelerated. On the one hand, the state has cracked down on strictly controlling production capacity. On the other hand, it is an indisputable fact that electrolytic aluminum has shifted to the west and entered the “fast track”.

A person in charge of the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association said in an interview with a reporter from the Economic Information Daily that, in 2012, the geographical distribution of electrolytic aluminum production capacity in China accounted for 71% in the northwest region and only 2.8% in central China, occupying the second largest new construction The share of production capacity in East China is 10.3%. It is worth noting that under the upsurge of non-ferrous investment in the western region, investment in electrolytic aluminum in western regions such as Ningxia, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia has already entered the “race” stage. Taking the Xinjiang region as an example, currently some companies such as Shandong Xinfa Group, Tianshan Aluminum, Zhonghe Aluminum and China Power Investment Group are put into production. More projects are still in the infrastructure construction stage. Eastern Hope, Shenhuo, Qia and Tianlong Mining expect 2013 It was completed and put into operation in December.

According to report, Shandong Xinfa Group, Dongfang Hope Group, China Power Investment Group and China Aluminum Corporation all built new electrolytic aluminum projects in the western region. It is worth noting that during this year's **, the news that the ancient city of Lijiang will launch a highly polluted electrolytic aluminum project is even more aroused.

Contrary to the country's heavy fist control, local governments have full enthusiasm for investment in electrolytic aluminum projects. In March 2012, the government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region signed a cooperation framework agreement with Chinalco Group to prepare to invest in the construction of a coal-electricity-aluminum integration project in Guyuan City.

Despite the difficulties faced by the entire industry, the current excess capacity in the electrolytic aluminum industry is still expanding. According to statistics from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, last year, the aluminum smelting industry completed fixed assets investment of 85.61 billion yuan, an increase of 24.9% year-on-year; non-ferrous metal smelting industry completed fixed asset investment of 208.42 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.0%. The aluminum smelting industry completed 41.1% of the fixed-metal investment in the smelting industry, which is 30% higher than the nonferrous metal smelting industry. In the case of sharp declines in investment in smelting industries such as copper, lead and zinc, the investment in the aluminum smelting industry, which is very difficult to manage, remains relatively high.

The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association’s vice president, Literature Force, commented at the recent meeting of the Shanghai Copper-Alium Summit that the current aluminum smelting industry has encountered unprecedented difficulties in the loss of the entire industry, and the excess capacity in the electrolytic aluminum industry is still expanding. He pointed out that in 2012, the annual output of electrolytic aluminum in China was 20.27 million tons, an increase of 12.2% over the same period of last year, while the capacity utilization rate was only about 85%. The average price of LME three-month aluminum in the whole year was 2,049 US dollars per ton, but the cost reached 2,149 US dollars per ton, making the industry fall into a loss.

Approval of 85% of newly-built electrolytic aluminum projects without approval The reporter learned that in recent years, relevant national ministries and commissions have successively issued a number of documents to curb excessive production capacity and redundant construction in the electrolytic aluminum industry. Due to the country's strict control over the approval of electrolytic aluminum projects, new production has been added. The capacity of electrolytic aluminum projects must be approved by the investment authority of the State Council. However, an authoritative source disclosed to the "Economic Information Daily" reporter that such approval did not contain excess capacity. China's unapproved electrolytic aluminum production capacity accounted for 85% of the total production capacity. Facts have proved that the current investment management model has been difficult to adapt to the needs of market economy development in the new situation.

“The new project is mainly based in the western region. According to the results of our investigation, basically only 15% of them are approved by the NDRC. These projects are basically built on the side of approval, because the NDRC strictly controls the electrolytic aluminum project, so the project The approval was very difficult, which also caused the status quo of the project's commencement of the formalities." The above person said.

The above-mentioned sources frankly stated that, from the perspective of the state policy, strict control over investment in high-energy-consuming industries such as electrolytic aluminum, and encourage the transfer of non-ferrous industries to the west. However, the current situation is that the electrolytic aluminium project in Xinjiang lacks a unified plan, and the production capacity is all new. It is not a “transfer” after eliminating outdated production capacity. This is fundamental for the electrolytic aluminum industry that already has excess capacity and lacks operating rate. "It's worse."

“The National Development and Reform Commission said several years ago that it will no longer approve new projects. However, in recent years, electrolytic aluminum production capacity has been exponentially increasing. It can be said that basically none of the projects have been approved.” A private aluminum electrolytic company The internal management of the company said “out of the blue”: “The project that was halted in the early stages restarted. It started construction without approval and the local government undoubtedly acted as an umbrella. After all, electrolytic aluminum is an important industry that can quickly stimulate the local economy. GDP needs big projects like electrolytic aluminum."

"If it is said to be illegal production capacity, but these new electrolytic aluminum plants are very advanced in terms of equipment, energy consumption, etc., and environmental pollution is small and at the same time it can actually reduce costs, which also makes us feel embarrassed." Jia Xingxing, vice president of the Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, admitted to the reporter that we allow a suitable surplus in the manufacturing industry such as electrolytic aluminum. This is not a bad thing for the industry, but a large number of companies have tossed and moved to the west, but also consider the local transportation and other supporting facilities. Without a reasonable plan, such disorderly development will indeed bring great risks to the industry.

“From a market economy point of view, the development of electrolytic aluminum projects in the western region has a certain degree of rationality. Because they have energy advantages, companies are pursuing high speeds, and they need to be large-scale in the short term, while the space for development in the east is relatively small.” Jungle Gao Anjiang, chief engineer of the group, said that some local governments are developing electrolytic aluminum mainly for GDP and tax revenue growth, and there is a standardism that leads to small-scale, low-end capacity expansion and adversely affects the industry. Some projects have been launched without approval. It is a big problem in the industry.

The reporter learned that low-cost coal resources are undoubtedly an important reason for the electrolytic aluminum industry to get into the west. A person in charge of an electrolytic aluminum company in Xinjiang told reporters frankly that electrolytic aluminum consumes a lot of electricity, so the price of electricity has a great impact on costs. For the western region like Xinjiang, large-scale electrolytic aluminum enterprises such as Shenhuo, Qia and Oriental hope to enter Xinjiang. The government is equipped with abundant coal resources and builds a captive power plant. The 1st kWh electricity requires only a gross cost. The current electrolytic aluminum process generally requires only 2 tons of alumina and other raw materials, consumes 15,000 kWh of electricity, and can process 1 ton of aluminum ingots. The current cost of electricity in the eastern region should reach 6 cents, which means that the production of one ton of electrolytic aluminum can save thousands of dollars in electricity bills. Even if the transportation cost is 2,000 yuan per ton, the profit is still very objective.

Regulatory related plans are expected to be published after the investigation Reporters learned from authorities that the State Council Counselor's Office and the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association will carry out research on the status quo of the western electrolytic aluminum industry in the near future. It is expected that the trip will begin in Xinjiang in May. Mainly for the development of electrolytic aluminum in-depth understanding of the situation, in order to introduce a new planning program to prevent blind disorderly expansion brings the industry hidden dangers.

Not only that, but the recent positive news on the policy level to control the excess capacity of electrolytic aluminum is frequent. In mid-February, Qinghai Province introduced new regulations and stopped the approval of new energy-intensive projects such as electrolytic aluminum. In early 2013, the 11 ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of Mergers and Reorganizations in Key Industries, and proposed specific integration requirements for the nine industries including the electrolytic aluminum industry.

“There is currently a lack of planning and management for the transfer of electrolytic aluminum production capacity to the west. The mechanism for the withdrawal of production capacity in the eastern and eastern regions is not perfect and lacks supervision. This is likely to further aggravate excess capacity in the domestic electrolytic aluminum industry.” An authoritative person accepted the “economic reference.” In an interview with the newspaper, the reporter said that to solve the current plight of the electrolytic aluminum industry, on the one hand, it has been difficult to rely solely on the examination and approval and administrative restrictions. The government should shift from the administrative examination and approval control to the establishment of a higher threshold from environmental protection, credit and other aspects. , through the market to curb capacity expansion. On the other hand, for the western electrolytic aluminum to be issued as soon as possible a corresponding plan, combined with the comprehensive considerations of the western region's transportation, energy, market and other factors, to prevent blind investment caused by late disorderly competition, the industry suffers from bitter fruit, and more important What is clear is that each company should combine the compression and phase-out of production capacity in the western part of the electrolytic aluminum project with the compression of phase-out capacity in the eastern provinces. The responsibility system and supervision measures should be implemented to ensure that the new production capacity is launched and the old production capacity is eliminated in order to solve the problem. Do not move the puzzle.

The literature army suggested that the state should maintain total control over electrolytic aluminum production capacity, make reasonable plans, and strengthen guidance. The first is to strictly control the total amount according to the objectives set in the “Twelfth Five-Year” development plan; the second is to determine and control a reasonable scale of development based on the study of energy and resource conditions in all regions of the western region; and third is to study and formulate the increase in capacity in the west and the withdrawal of production capacity in the eastern and central regions. Organic binding mechanism. It is recommended that the State establish a special project to provide support and compensation for the withdrawal of production capacity in the East and Central China, or to provide policy support to companies that have exited the market after they have been eliminated.

"The current price of electrolytic aluminum has reached the cost line, which also formed a force mechanism, through the market mechanism to reduce investment in electrolytic aluminum." Jiaxing told reporters.