Towards a strong aluminum processing country

The new round of China's five-year plan - the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" has begun. The prominent feature of the country’s macro development environment during this period was to adjust the economic structure and transform the mode of economic development. This situation requires that all enterprises and all cadres must adjust their concepts, integrate resources, and transfer financial, material, human, and energy resources from an excessive and single focus on capacity growth and enterprise expansion over time to focusing on technological innovation, structural adjustment, and industrial upgrading. . China's output of aluminum processing materials has ranked first in the world for five consecutive years, but it is an indisputable fact that China's aluminum processing is large but not strong. The principle of the central government to change the mode of economic development and various policies and measures that have already been issued and will be introduced will help reduce the gap between China's aluminum processing industry and developed countries, and accelerate the transition from a large aluminum processing country to a powerful one. According to the characteristics of the environmental conditions in the new period and the status quo of China's aluminum processing industry, I have made the following expectations for the industrial development in the final period of the “Twelfth Five-year Plan”:

In 2015, the production capacity will reach 40 million tons and the output will be about 32 million tons

At the end of the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, China’s aluminum processing capacity reached 23 million tons, and the output was 20.26 million tons, and the capacity utilization rate reached 88%. It should be said that at this stage, the issue of overcapacity in China's aluminum processing industry is not serious, and the market economy itself is a surplus economy. Due to strong market demand, the average annual growth rate of aluminum processed wood production in China during the period from 2006 to 2010 reached 29.75%. If there is not enough investment to support the continuous growth of production capacity, it will be difficult to meet the market demand and products that will give users the best price/performance ratio. However, the fact that the surplus is not serious does not mean that the future is not serious. In addition to the investments that have been completed during the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" period, there are still a lot of investment activities going on. At present, there are nearly 100 projects under construction for aluminum processing, with a total investment of nearly 200 billion yuan and a potential production capacity of nearly 10 million tons. Another group of projects are planning and demonstrating that it is expected that China's aluminum processing capacity will reach 40 million tons by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan. . Since the production capacity of high-precision plate strips and large-size industrial aluminum profiles will be excessive, and the growth of market consumption will lag behind the increase in production capacity during the investment boom, the capacity utilization rate at the end of the 12th Five-year Plan period will fall to 80. About %, the output in 2015 was about 32 million tons.

The ratio of flat rolled material to extruded material will reach 5:5

At the beginning of the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, the ratio of aluminum flat rolled products to extruded wood in China was 3.8:6.2, compared with 6:4 in western developed aluminum processing countries. As it is generally believed that aluminum flat rolled products have higher added value than extruded materials, and the product structure of Western countries is better, the ratio of aluminum flat rolled products to extruded materials is locked in the aluminum processing industry policy issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2007. 6:4. In fact, due to the fact that each country has different national conditions and different stages of development, it may have a different product structure, depending on the market. The investment still plays an important role in the economic development of our country at this stage, and the demand for the profile in the capital construction project is very large. Therefore, the rate of change in the ratio of the two types of aluminum materials in China has been extremely slow in recent years. The ratio of 5:5 given here is not a goal that must be reached at the end of the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, but an objective description of the proportions that may appear, because about 6.5 million tons of flat aluminum production capacity is flat. Rolled material.

The ratio of industrial profiles to building profiles in extruded wood will reach 5:5

This is also a goal of industrial restructuring mentioned by the National Development and Reform Commission in the aluminum processing industry policy in 2007. During the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, due to the country’s restrictions on the development of general building profiles, the production capacity of industrial profiles, under the stimulation of the development of high-speed railways and other projects, had a larger actual increase. As of the end of the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan”, the proportion of industrial profiles in extruded wood has reached 40%. Considering that there are many large-scale extrusion presses currently being purchased, commissioned and trial-produced, the vast majority of the potential extrusion production capacity of 3.5 million tons is industrial profiles, so at the end of the “Twelfth Five-year Plan”, industrial profiles and construction It is possible that the ratio of profiles reaches 5:5.

The ratio of medium-to-short-flow casting process to the traditional hot-rolling process reaches 5:5

Compared with the casting and rolling process, the traditional hot rolling process is long, the investment is high, the energy consumption and material consumption are high, and the production cost is high. Although it is generally considered that hot-rolled materials perform better than cast-rolled materials, only the aerospace aluminum, can stock, PS plate base, high-end aluminum foil, and alloy thick plate must be produced by the hot rolling process (the thickness of the cast plate cannot be reached) Wait for a few varieties, and the output of these varieties is less than 20% of the total output of flat rolled products. In other words, theoretically speaking, 80% aluminum flat rolled material can be produced by casting. At present, the ratio of cast-rolling and hot-rolling in China is 3:7, compared with 2.5:7.5 in Western developed countries, which is less than China. This is because most of their factories were built in the 1970s, when the casting process was not yet mature and it had not yet been industrialized. In the current situation of advocating energy-saving and emission-reduction, we should vigorously promote short-flow processes. This 5:5 must be achieved.

The self-sufficiency of the main varieties of high-precision, high-value-added strips reaches 70%

High-precision, high-value-added plate strip mainly refers to aerospace high-alloyed plate, ultra-thin alloy strip, high-precision plate for mold, alloy plate for car body, high-precision PS and CPT plate for printing. , Double zero aluminum foil and blanks, computer disk chips, etc., the current self-sufficiency rate is only about 30%. Among them, hot-rolled cans have been solved in recent years, and the autonomy rate is only 50%. As a number of high-precision strip projects are put into operation during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, the problem of low self-sufficiency rate for high-precision products will improve, but it is still quite difficult to achieve a self-sufficiency rate of 70%.

The ratio of direct casting of blanks and the implementation of casting and rolling with electrolytic aluminum liquid reaches 40% of the total amount of processed blanks

Compared with the traditional secondary remelting of aluminum ingots in the production of aluminum workpiece blanks, direct billet casting with electrolyzed aluminum liquid can save 700 kWh/ton, reduce burning loss by 1.0%, and reduce the overall cost by about 700 yuan/ton. About, but can reduce emissions. The proportion of direct billets cast by electrolytic aluminum in developed countries has reached 70%, and China currently has only 25%. As an important energy saving and emission reduction project during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, this work has been fully implemented. In August, the Association held a meeting in Zhengzhou, aiming to promote it to the whole country with Henan as a pilot. This project needs to solve the technical problems such as product standards and weight measurement involved in the production of electrolytic aluminum liquid as a commodity, but the actual difficulty is not at the technical level, but rather a large number of production coordination and reasonable segmentation of upstream and downstream interests.

Reproduce and native ratio in aluminum processing resources reaches 2.5:7.5

Making full use of recycled aluminum will not only ease resource constraints but also reduce production costs. At present, the ratio of primary and recycled aluminum in developed countries is close to 5:5, and China has only 2:8. In the early stages of the formulation of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan”, it was proposed to set this indicator at 3:7, which has just been opened recently. According to the information disclosed by the National Science and Technology Conference of Nonferrous Metals Industry, this indicator has been adjusted to 2.5:7.5. Objectively speaking, this indicator is not difficult. With the increase in the amount of domestic consumption of aluminum materials reaching the natural end-of-life period and the promotion of the national recycling economy and the improvement of the quality of the entire people, the above indicators are expected to be realized during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period. In the production of recycled metals, strict attention must be paid to the careful mastery of technology, strict control of the technological procedures, and attention to product quality and environmental protection.

Energy-saving and emission reduction technologies are widely promoted

As the energy consumption per ton of aluminum processing is only one-tenth that of aluminum electrolysis, the total amount of harmful emissions is also lower than that of electrolytic aluminum. Therefore, in the past, the aluminum processing companies have attached less importance to energy conservation and emission reduction than electrolytic aluminum enterprises. In fact, the space and potential for energy saving and emission reduction of aluminum processing are very large. In addition to the “electrolytic aluminum liquid directly cast in the mixing furnace” mentioned earlier, the technologies that need to be promoted during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period for energy saving and emission reduction in aluminum processing include: “Regenerative smelting furnaces and regenerators. "Furnace technology," "aluminum smelter flue gas desulphurization technology," "aluminum alloy long ingot heat shear technology," "aluminum profile fixed pad extrusion technology", "aluminum extrusion material on-line gas, water quenching technology," "Aluminum slab rapid casting and rolling technology", "multi-stand hot continuous rolling coil technology" and "aluminum profile without chromium treatment technology" and so on. It is hoped that after a period of hard work, the aluminum processing industry will become more energy-efficient and cleaner, and it will be more conducive to sustainable development and transformation into a strong country.

The general level of aluminum processing installed capacity increased

At present, the level of design and manufacture of aluminum processing equipment and instrumentation in China has, to a certain extent, restricted the development of aluminum processing materials to high precision and high added value. Under realistic conditions, the improvement of the equipment level must place great emphasis on scientific development and seeking truth from facts. There is no opposition to walking on both legs. Wide-range rolling mills, multi-high rolling mills, multi-stand continuous rolling mills, high-precision bending and straightening, high-precision shearing units, and high-precision temperature-controlled continuous annealing furnaces, thickness gauges, and strip shape gauges that cannot be solved in the short term Precision control equipment, the introduction of the introduction. Of course, we also oppose the blind introduction of not seeking truth from facts and not doing research. Most extrusion product processing equipment, single-stand rolling mills and some multi-roll mills, discontinuous annealing furnaces, and general-precision pull-bending and straightening can be completely solved in the country, thus saving investment, reducing risks, and reducing financial costs. From the perspective of long-term sustainable development, the most fundamental task is to accelerate the localization of processing equipment and end the situation where high-precision equipment and control instruments rely entirely on imports.

Increased industrial concentration and further reduction of regional differences

In addition to the problems of technology, equipment, and technical and economic indicators in the gap between China and the world's largest aluminum processing country, in terms of industrial structure, the scale of the company is too small and the degree of industrial concentration is still a big problem. At present, the average production capacity of aluminum foil materials and aluminum profiles in China is 1.5 and 16,000 tons, respectively. The situation of strips and strips is slightly better, but it is only 19,000 tons. This corresponds to an average production capacity of 130,000 tons for Russian and Japanese aluminum strip companies and an average of 170,000 tons for the United States. In contrast, the gap is very obvious. The small size of the company makes it difficult for us to participate in international competition and reduce market risks; it is difficult to promote advanced technologies and reduce manufacturing costs. The formation of this issue is related to the history of the rapid development of individual and privately-owned aluminum processing enterprises in the initial stages of China's reform and opening up, and it is difficult to solve them. To solve this problem requires the incremental part and stock part of the synchronous action. It is envisaged that during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, new projects and original enterprise mergers and reorganizations will enable enterprises to further increase their average production capacity. More than 30 large-scale aluminum processing enterprises with a production capacity exceeding 200,000 tons, including at least 10 coal-electrical-aluminum-aluminum The processing industry chain project; at the same time, the regional gap in industrial development has further narrowed, and the aluminum processing industry in the central and western regions has developed rapidly, with a production capacity that is more than 3 times the current production capacity. In the so-called industrial chain construction, the concept should not be speculative, only to attract eyeballs, enticing the government to pay attention and the entry of external capital. Only the upstream and downstream industries are in isolation and there is no industrial chain. It is necessary to organically link upstream and downstream products and related enterprises, implement unified planning, and develop simultaneously; establish an effective operation mechanism, reduce administrative links and management costs; and under the premise of relatively equal maintenance of the enthusiasm of the production of various processes, the local interests must be absolute. Obeying the overall interests, the advantages of the industrial chain can be fully interpreted and played.

New product development efforts have been increased, and aluminum processing materials have been broadened.

The “Guidance Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2011 Edition)” promulgated by the National Development and Reform Commission and implemented since June 1, 2011 will “a new type of high-strength, high-toughness, and corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy material for main support structures used in transportation and transportation. And large-size products are listed as encouraged products. Related to the large-size aluminum alloy heavy plate, aluminum alloy plate for automobiles, aluminum alloy composites for automotive heat transfer, aluminum alloy plates for ships, and ordinary train bodies (including coal carts, tank cars, etc.) Aluminum alloy materials related to transportation, such as container profiles and plates, will surely become the hot spots for new product development and investment in the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan”. In addition, in the context of a market in which some products may have excess capacity, the release of excess production capacity, the development of other new products and new application markets will also arouse more extensive attention. For example, the current domestic self-sufficiency rate is only 50% for hot-rolled continuous thin strips, aluminum for solar energy, high-grade aluminum for printing, high-grade aluminum alloy trim panels, new-type, multi-functional building profiles, and personal light vehicles (bicycles). Motorcycles) aluminum alloys and parts, all-aluminum alloy made urban overpasses, household aluminum foil, etc. Of course, the largest number of applications and the most promising prospects are the development and promotion of various aluminum materials for automobiles.

New materials and new process research will give greater support to the aluminum processing industry

Due to the determination of the approach to transforming the mode of economic development, the deployment of strategically emerging industries in the country, and the issuance of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" technology development plan for the non-ferrous metal industry, the research work on new materials and new processes for the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" aluminum and aluminum alloys will be completed. There is a better operating environment. The scientific research institutes, colleges and universities and some aluminum processing enterprises undertaking R&D tasks will make full use of this favorable environmental condition and the allocated scientific research funds to carry out research work with a high level and efficiency. The focus of the “Twelfth Five-Year” research on new aluminum and aluminum alloy materials is on aluminum for transportation and aluminum for aviation. The basic research and technology involved in the study are very rich. All relevant departments have done a series of support channels. Arrangements. The purpose of these arrangements is to gradually form aluminum alloy products and technical systems for transportation with China’s independent intellectual property rights, independently innovate and develop a new generation of aerospace aluminum alloy materials, and finally to build a research and development system for high-performance aluminum alloy materials in China to support the development of strategic emerging industries. The demand for high-performance aluminum alloy materials is presented.

The implementation of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" aluminum alloy technology development plan will undoubtedly play an important role in promoting technological progress, new product development and industrial upgrading of the aluminum processing industry. The promotion of important technological advancements in the aluminum processing industry in the past 10 years and the technological innovation activities of aluminum processing companies in all aspects of billet extrusion, extrusion, rolling, heat treatment, surface treatment, and molds will become even more active.

It can be foreseen that the overall technical level of China's aluminum processing will be greatly enhanced in the late 12th Five-Year Plan period, product varieties will be more abundant, and the self-sufficiency rate of high-tech products will be greatly increased. The gap between our country and the aluminum-processing powerhouse will be greatly reduced.