Aluminum water is flowing in the workshop, the production line is operating at full capacity, and inventory is almost zero. Since the beginning of this year, orders for aluminum plates, strips, foils, aluminum wires and other products have been booming, and aluminum processing production bases in Sichuan, Anhui and other places have been busy. Some companies achieved 42.3% of their annual profit target in the first quarter, while some products were pulled away by trucks as soon as they were taken offline, presenting a rare "zero inventory" state.
At the same time, the tense situation in the Middle East has led to some overseas aluminum factories reducing production, and orders are accelerating their transfer to China. Data shows that from January to April 2026, China's cumulative exports of unprocessed and rolled aluminum and aluminum materials reached 2.053 million tons, an increase of 8.9% year-on-year. The domestic demand side is also hot, and the amount of aluminum used in emerging fields such as new energy vehicles, energy storage, and photovoltaics continues to rise.
Is the prosperity of production and sales a short-term dividend or a long-term trend? Can the aluminum processing industry break free from the fate of "earning meager processing fees"? How effective is the high-end transformation? Around these issues, a reporter from China Industry News interviewed Wang Benli, Director of the Color Industry Research Office at the Materials Industry Research Institute of China Electronics Information Industry Development Research Institute, and the China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association, attempting to uncover the truth and hidden concerns of this round of aluminum processing boom.
Significant achievements have been made in the transformation and upgrading of the aluminum processing industry
This booming scene is not a local phenomenon. Since the beginning of this year, the supply and demand situation in China's aluminum processing industry has significantly improved, with aluminum plates, strips, foils, and aluminum wires performing particularly well, mainly benefiting from export growth and downstream consumption improvement, "the China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association said in an interview with China Industry News.
In terms of exports, China's aluminum processing industry has a strong comparative advantage globally. By 2025, the annual export volume of aluminum materials and aluminum products will account for about 19% of the total aluminum production. From January to April this year, China's total export volume of aluminum materials and aluminum products was 3.14 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%. Among them, the export volume of aluminum plates and strips was 1.115 million tons, an increase of 13.5%.
It is worth noting that this round of growth presents obvious structural characteristics. The China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association pointed out that "China's aluminum processing industry is significantly differentiated, and aluminum extrusion, as the largest sub industry in the aluminum processing industry, is still under significant supply and demand pressure due to the continuous decline of the real estate market, fluctuations in the new energy vehicle and photovoltaic industries, and other factors. The production and sales situation is not optimistic, and some enterprises are facing difficulties in operation." In other words, not all aluminum processing enterprises have enjoyed this round of dividends. Traditional aluminum alloy doors and windows, building aluminum materials, and other fields still face significant pressure, while sub sectors related to new energy, electricity, and exports such as aluminum strips, foils, and aluminum wires have become the main drivers of growth.
Behind this differentiation is the result of years of transformation and upgrading accumulated in China's aluminum industry. During an interview with China Industry News, Wang Benli systematically reviewed the progress and challenges of China's aluminum industry's transformation and upgrading.
Wang Benli stated that China's aluminum industry has made significant breakthroughs in high-end, green, and intelligent fields. Pioneering alumina production technologies such as the lime Bayer process and mineral processing Bayer process, and building the world's largest single alumina production line. The industrialization of high-end aluminum materials is accelerating, and by 2025, the self-sufficiency rate of high-end aluminum alloys in China will increase, with a 45% increase in the supply of high-strength and corrosion-resistant aluminum alloys for new energy vehicles. The proportion of large-scale electrolytic cells with a capacity of 500kA and above exceeds 85%, and the large-scale application of 600kA super large electrolytic cells has begun. The energy consumption of some demonstration production lines has exceeded 12800 kWh/ton, far exceeding the national energy efficiency benchmark level, leading the continuous improvement of global electrolytic aluminum energy efficiency level. The implementation of the Action Plan for Comprehensive Utilization of Red Mud has yielded results, and the proportion of iron selected from red mud in the total utilization has steadily increased. AI application acceleration, release of the first AI big model in the non-ferrous industry - Kun'an, realizing intelligent control of the entire electrolytic aluminum chain.
The China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association has also summarized three major directions for the transformation and upgrading of the aluminum processing industry during the 14th Five Year Plan period: firstly, optimizing the product structure, actively adapting to downstream consumption changes, the scale of "new three types" aluminum materials moving towards millions of tons, the rapid growth of industrial aluminum profile production, and the import substitution of a large number of high-tech products; The second is greening, actively implementing the dual carbon strategy, adhering to the integrated development of recycled aluminum and processing, creating a closed-loop industrial chain of waste aluminum recycling, regeneration, and high-value utilization, and building a large number of distributed photovoltaic power stations on factory roofs. As of now, more than 100 national green factories have been built; The third is intelligentization. A large number of intelligent production equipment have been introduced, and equipment upgrades and transformations have been promoted. A large number of intelligent factories, 5G factories, and black light factories have been built, effectively improving production efficiency and product quality.
Wang Benli also pointed out that the high-quality development of China's aluminum industry still faces multiple unresolved issues. Disruptive technologies such as inert anodes and low-temperature electrolysis are still in the laboratory or pilot stage; The overall utilization of red mud is still dominated by low-end utilization, and high value-added utilization technologies have not yet been industrialized; High end aluminum materials such as aerospace still face performance fluctuations and lack of consistency, and there is still a gap between them and the international advanced level.
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Overseas order transfer
Is it a short-term dividend or a long-term competitiveness?
The reporter learned that an important driving force for the booming production and sales of the aluminum processing industry in this round comes from overseas. The tense situation in the Middle East has led to a surge in energy prices, with some overseas electrolytic aluminum plants reducing production and tightening supply. However, the domestic aluminum industry chain, with its strong resilience and stability, has effectively undertaken the demand for overseas transfer orders.
How to view the phenomenon of "overseas production reduction and order transfer"? Is it a short-term geopolitical dividend or a concentrated reflection of the long-term competitiveness of China's aluminum processing industry chain?
Wang Benli gave a clear judgment: "Behind the short-term geopolitical conflict dividends is the concentrated reflection of China's competitive advantages in aluminum processing capacity, technology and equipment, product varieties, etc. In the short term, the transfer of overseas orders to the domestic market is sporadic, but the fact that orders can be quickly taken over by Chinese aluminum processing enterprises precisely shows that our industry has sufficient resilience and competitiveness
The China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association also holds a similar view: "The situation in the Middle East has pushed up energy prices, damaged regional electrolytic aluminum production capacity, led to overseas aluminum production reduction and order transfer. On the one hand, the tense geopolitical situation has promoted the transfer of overseas orders to China, which is conducive to improving the supply and demand situation of China's aluminum processing industry. On the other hand, China's aluminum processing industry has a large scale, excellent product quality, and the strongest comprehensive competitiveness in the world. We have persistently promoted high-level exports of aluminum materials and aluminum products, and continue to make important contributions to the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain. China's aluminum processing industry chain has strong supply capacity and comparative advantages, which is the fundamental reason why overseas orders choose us
This judgment can be verified from the data. In 2025, the annual export volume of aluminum materials and aluminum products will account for about 19% of the total aluminum production. From January to April this year, the export volume of aluminum materials and aluminum products increased by 8.4% year-on-year. Against the backdrop of global supply chain turbulence, China's aluminum processing industry has become the preferred choice for global customers due to its complete industrial chain system, stable power supply, advanced process equipment, and large-scale cost advantages.
Wang Benli further analyzed that since the beginning of this year, the production and sales of the aluminum processing industry have been booming, which is the result of internal and external demand resonance, and shows obvious structural characteristics. The use of aluminum in emerging fields such as photovoltaics, new energy vehicles, and energy storage in China continues to grow. Under geopolitical conflicts, aluminum exports maintain a certain degree of resilience, while traditional aluminum alloy doors and windows, building aluminum, and other fields still face certain pressures.
This means that this round of growth has both the "dividend" of external order transfer and the "internal force" of internal industrial structure upgrading. The combination of the two has led to the current hot situation of supply shortage in segmented fields such as aluminum plate, strip, foil, and aluminum wire.
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Breakthrough and Future of Aluminum Processing Enterprises
The Implementation Plan for High Quality Development of the Aluminum Industry (2025-2027) jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and ten other departments clearly proposes to promote the transformation of the aluminum industry towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, and accelerate the survival of the fittest in the industry.
However, the reality remains severe. According to preliminary statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, there will be 4306 large-scale enterprises in the aluminum processing industry by 2025, with a total profit of 50.79 billion yuan; However, there are only 341 aluminum smelting enterprises with a total profit of 157.82 billion yuan. Since the beginning of this year, aluminum prices have risen significantly, and the industry's profit distribution has become more uneven, further widening the profit gap between processing and smelting processes.
Against the backdrop of overall profit pressure, the high-end transformation is opening up new profit margins for some enterprises. By 2025, the self-sufficiency rate of high-end aluminum alloys in China will significantly increase, and some enterprises have achieved a leapfrog increase in product added value through technological breakthroughs. A group of enterprises have taken the lead in the high-end road: New Standard Aluminum Industry is deeply rooted in the field of industrial aluminum profiles, focusing on the research and production of lightweight aluminum profiles for automobiles and lightweight chemical industrial materials. Relying on the advantages of intelligent manufacturing in the entire industry chain, it provides integrated solutions from precision extrusion to CNC precision machining; Chinalco High end Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has a processing capacity of 1.8 million tons of aluminum materials, ranking first in the country and second in the world in terms of production and sales scale. It has a full industry chain layout from bauxite to high-end aluminum materials, undertakes major national strategic material support tasks, and has absolute dominance in the aerospace, defense, and military industries.
Does "high-end" mean that the aluminum processing industry is getting rid of the fate of "earning meager processing fees" in the past as it is improving corporate profits?
The aluminum processing industry in our country generally adopts the pricing model of 'aluminum ingot price+processing fee'. Since the beginning of this year, some aluminum plate, strip and foil processing fees have been adjusted, increasing enterprise profits. The main reason is the improvement of supply and demand situation, and the industry has achieved results in 'anti internalization'. However, we believe that the aluminum processing industry is not easy to get rid of the current situation of 'earning meager processing fees', "said the China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association.
Wang Benli also said, "In the past, the industry was deeply trapped in the dilemma of 'high technical requirements and low profitability'. It was at the end of the industry chain and had the highest technical barriers, but its profitability was far inferior to that of alumina and electrolytic aluminum. With the transformation to 'high-precision and cutting-edge' fields such as new energy vehicles, energy storage, aerospace, etc., the added value of some enterprises' products has significantly increased, and processing fees have remained high, achieving a leap in profitability. However, we must also be aware that the 'internal competition' in the industry has not fundamentally eased, and homogeneous competition has led to meager profits for ordinary products. Especially for small and medium-sized processing enterprises, due to weak bargaining power and insufficient cost transfer ability, they are prone to losses or even elimination
Looking ahead to the future, besides new energy vehicles and energy storage, which emerging fields will become the next explosive points in aluminum processing?
Regarding this, Wang Benli believes that the rapid development of emerging fields such as AI computing power centers and robots has given rise to new demand for aluminum consumption, bringing new growth opportunities for downstream processing industries. But enterprises should choose suitable entry points based on their own technological foundation, avoid blindly following the trend, and strengthen collaborative research and development with downstream, gradually achieving a leap from 'material processing' to 'overall solution provider'. ”
China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association also said: "New energy vehicles and energy storage are important areas for expanding the application of aluminum, and still have growth potential. We are very happy to see the accelerated landing of artificial intelligence, robots, low altitude aircraft, commercial aerospace, marine engineering ships and other emerging scenarios, opening up new growth space for aluminum applications."
For the future development of aluminum processing enterprises, the China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association stated that for aluminum processing enterprises, they must closely follow the pulse of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and lead high-quality development with technological innovation. To build a high-level innovation platform and strengthen technology and talent reserves; Proactively connect with downstream customers, focus on new needs, and carry out collaborative innovation of "materials+applications"; We should abandon the pursuit of quick success and instant benefits, and persist in achieving long-term success.
