Applying the brakes to China’s aluminium capacity growth

On 17 January, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a new replacement capacity plan for 2018. Based on the plan, there will be no net addition to China’s aluminium smelter capacity until the end of 2018. Apart from internal transfers and applying for quotas, the new rules indicate that a company can get replacement capacity through mergers. We summarise the implications of the new rules on China's future capacity build.