Aluminium Corp of China (Chalco) plans to add a smelter to its alumina production unit in Shanxi province, Bloomberg reported. The smelter, with an associated coal-fired power station, would have an annual production capacity of 280,000 tonnes. Chalco is China's only producer of alumina, which is smelted to make the finished metal.
Chalco's parent China Aluminium is close to signing an agreement with China National Metals and Minerals Import and Export Corp and Guangxi Development and Investment to build an oxidised aluminium mill in Guangxi with an annual production capacity of 2m tonnes, South China Morning Post said. Total investment was estimated at US$2bn, which would cover prospecting costs as well as construction of the mill, a highway and water supply.