China scraps duty rebates on aluminum, ferroalloy

China will abolish the export rebates for electrolytic aluminum, ferroalloy and other high energy-consuming products as of January 1, 2005, the Ministry of Finance said in a news bulletin.

China also announced last month it will levy export tariff on aluminum, copper and nickel and ban the import of aluminum oxide for processing trade.

As a major sector readjusted under the country's macro-control policy in the past year, electrolytic aluminum, a high energy-consuming product, consumes 15,200 kwh for one-ton production.

Electricity consumption accounted for 35 percent of the production cost of electrolytic aluminum before the rates of electricity are increased.

Statistics show that China produced 6.6 million tons of aluminum in 2004, up 20 percent year-on-year, and will produce 7.2 million tons in 2005 with a growth rate of 9 percent.

Source: Xinhua