China's aluminum production to reach 20.4mnt in 2015

China's aluminium production is set to increase at an average annual rate of 5.2%, reaching 20.4mn tonnes (mnt) in 2015 from 15.8mnt in 2010, with most of this growth driven by Yunnan Aluminium and Henan Bowei Aluminium, according to Research and Markets.

The market research firm expects consumption of aluminium to grow more quickly due to the development of infrastructure, averaging 9.2% per annum over the period and reaching 24.8mnt from 16.2mnt in 2010.

"In addition, we have upgraded our copper production forecast on the back of Xiangguang Copper's expansion plans. We now expect refined copper production to reach 6.56mnt in 2015, marking an average annual rate of growth of 7.2% from 4.57mnt in 2010. Refined copper consumption is set average 7% per annum from 7.42mnt in 2010 to 10.5mnt in 2015," the company said.

In terms of nickel production, Research and Markets forecasts output growth to slow to an average annual rate of 11.1%, reaching 650 thousand tonnes (kt) in 2015, from 290kt in 2010. "Regarding the consumption of refined nickel, we have downgraded our forecasts on the back of China's increasing use of nickel pig-iron as a substitute for refined nickel. We therefore expect growth to average 4.8% per annum, compared with our previous estimate of 5.4%, reaching 709kt," they said.

In addition, "we forecast steel consumption to average 5.8% growth to 2015, reaching 745mnt, up from 561mnt in 2010," the firm finally said.