China’s Henan Shenhuo to start production at Yunnan aluminium on December 31

According to a report on Thursday, December25, China’s Henan Shenhuo Group will start the production at its aluminium smelting project in the Wenshan prefecture of Yunnan province, with initial capacity 150,000 tonnes per year.

Wenshan, having abundant hydropower resources for the energy-intensive smelting process, is emerging as a major hub of China’s aluminium industry, with top producers China Hongqiao Group 1378.HK and state-owned Chinalco building projects there.

A spokesman for Henan Shenhuo Coal and Power confirmed that the project would start on December 31 and it would take around one month for the first production to come out. By March, the plant is expected to reach the full 150,000 tonnes of annual production, added an official.

Shenhuo has a plan to move 900,000 tonnes of aluminium smelting project from Henan in central China to the southwestern province of Yunnan eventually, and for now, it is moving around 450,000 tonnes.

The project was initially supposed to start up in July this year but has been delayed by poor weather.