A few days ago, at the 2020 China Aluminum Processing Industry Annual Conference, Chang Guowu, deputy director of the Department of Raw Materials of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, delivered a speech at the conference. In his speech, Chang Guowu analyzed the current problems and challenges faced by China's aluminum processing industry, and put forward four opinions on accelerating the high-quality development of the aluminum processing industry.
Chang Guowu said that the aluminum processing industry is the second largest metal industry after the steel processing industry, and it is an important pillar industry to improve the development level of the industrial chain and promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry. China's aluminum processing industry capacity accounts for more than half of the world's capacity, equipment technology level of the world, on the basis of basically meeting the needs of national economic construction, products are exported to more than 200 countries and regions around the world, has become the world's aluminum production and consumption and exporter. Especially since the beginning of this year, the domestic aluminum processing industry has actively responded to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and coordinated the promotion of epidemic prevention and control and the resumption of work and production.
At present, the profit of the aluminum processing industry has gradually turned from negative to positive, which has become a key factor for the smooth operation of the non-ferrous metal industry. However, at the same time, we must also see that the foundation for the continuous improvement of China's aluminum processing industry is not yet stable, and the task of transformation and upgrading is still arduous. From a domestic point of view, the growth rate of traditional consumption areas such as building structure and transportation has slowed down. In 2019, primary aluminum consumption showed negative growth for the first time, and aluminum consumption is about to enter the platform area. The scale of aluminum processing capacity is large, and the contradiction between supply and demand is more prominent. From an international point of view, trade protectionism, unilateralism on the rise, economic globalization encountered adverse currents, aluminum anti-dumping investigations are frequent, superimposed on the decline in foreign demand under the epidemic, January ~ July, China's aluminum exports are only 2.62 million tons, down 15.6% year-on-year, and the pressure on aluminum exports will continue to increase in the future.
At the same time, the technological breakthrough and industrial application of high-end materials such as aviation aluminum, automotive aluminum, and aluminum foil for power batteries need to be accelerated, the stability and consistency of quality need to be further improved, and the ability to meet and lead downstream demand needs to be further improved. Chang Guowu stressed that in the next step, everyone should seriously implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important speeches, find the correct positioning in the development pattern of dual circulation, combine the actual situation of the aluminum processing industry, take pragmatic and effective measures, and accelerate the high-quality development of the aluminum processing industry.
First, we must actively expand domestic demand. Give full play to the comprehensive advantages of aluminum products such as excellent performance and environmental friendliness, find opportunities in adapting to and leading consumption upgrading, continuously develop application fields, expand market scale, promote the application of green building materials products such as aluminum alloy energy-saving windows, and explore new highlights of aluminum consumption in municipal construction, furniture, agriculture, health and epidemic prevention and other fields, and form a consumption demonstration role.
The second is to strengthen the drive for innovation. Give full play to the role of innovation as the first driving force for development. Through the upstream and downstream cooperation mechanism of civil aircraft materials, aviation materials, new energy vehicle materials, advanced marine engineering and high-tech ship materials, high-speed rail materials and other national new material production and application demonstration platforms, continue to promote upstream and downstream joint research, guide enterprises to break through key core technologies such as quality stability and consistency control, and promote China's aluminum processing industry to move towards the middle and high end of the global value chain.
The third is to improve the level of intelligence. Implement the guidelines for the construction of intelligent processing plants in the non-ferrous metal industry jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments, promote the construction of non-ferrous metal intelligent processing plants with fast response, coordination and efficiency, form an intelligent manufacturing alliance in the nonferrous metal industry, pay close attention to the promotion and application of achievements, the formulation of industry standards, pilot demonstrations, etc., and create a number of benchmark enterprises and professional solution providers.
Fourth, accelerate coordinated development. Give full play to the advantages of mature industrial support, talent agglomeration and mature marketing network in the existing aluminum processing agglomeration area, attract advanced technology and innovation resources at home and abroad, strengthen technical cooperation and talent exchanges, actively expand and lengthen the industrial chain, strengthen the cluster effect, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win.
Chang Guowu said that he hopes that people in the aluminum industry will have extensive exchanges and actively make suggestions, especially to strengthen the exchange of experience in expanding aluminum consumption and promoting the orderly development of the industry, so as to promote the transformation and upgrading of China's aluminum processing industry and achieve stable and healthy development, and make new and greater contributions.
