China aluminium capacity to rise 60 percent by 2015

ZHUHAI: China's annual capacity of primary aluminium may rise by 60 percent in coming four years as smelters build new facilities in resource-rich western and northern provinces, a director at the state-backed China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said on Wednesday.

Hu Changping said capacity would jump above 40 million tonnes by 2015 from 25 million tonnes projected by the end of 2011.

China, the world's top producer and consumer of aluminium, may see annual demand grow by an average 8.7 percent between 2011 and 2015, down from 17.3 percent in the past five years, Hu told an industry conference in Zhuhai city, Guangdong province.