Hope for new aluminium ventures
1 June 2003
Liu Yongxing, chairman of Eastern Hope, part of the Hope feedgrain group, is investing more than Yn11bn in aluminium production, 21st Century Business Heraldsaid.
Liu plans to invest Yn10bn over a six-year period in a giant electrolysed aluminium plant in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. Production is due to begin this October, with an annual output of 250,000 tonnes. Output in 2008 is expected to reach 1m tonnes. The company is also building a coal-fired power station to feed the factory, due for completion in May next year. The station will sell surplus electricity to the power grid of north China.
In a separate project, Liu is investing Yn1.5bn in a joint venture in Chiping, Shandong province, which will produce 160,000 tonnes a year of electrolysed aluminium. Eastern Hope holds 51 per cent of the venture, with the balance held by a local firm, Xinfa Aluminium.
Last month, the State Development and Reform Commission issued a directive against building new electrolysed aluminium facilities. A similar ban issued last year was widely ignored by local governments.
