Holingol of Inner Mongolia Comprehensively Lays out Grand Development Pattern of Aluminum Industry

Holingol City of Inner Mongolia, which has thrived on coal, is forming an "aluminum capital of the north". According to the "14th Five-Year Plan" of this city, by 2025, Holingol City will increase its recycled aluminum production capacity by 1 million tons, and its aluminum post-processing capacity will exceed 3.2 million tons, with an additional output value of over 57 billion yuan and a total industrial output value of over 100 billion yuan. Holingol City is grasping the opportunity of green energy substitution, deepening the transformation of electrolytic aluminum industry, fully extending the industrial chain of deep post-processing of aluminum, and promoting the development of aluminum industry in a new direction.

In 2004, Huolinhe Kengkou Power Plant, as a national demonstration project of local coal-electricity conversion to realize "coal in the air", has been started for construction. In the same year, the 200000-ton electrolytic aluminum project of Huomei Hongjun Aluminum & Electricity Company was officially put into production, and the coal, electricity, and aluminum industry in Holingol started. The new industry is associated with coal and electricity, laying the foundation for the development of aluminum industry in this city. After more than ten years of sustained development, by 2021, Holingol had produced 2421800 tons of electrolytic aluminum, and the total capacity of three large-scale electrolytic aluminum enterprises was as high as 2697000 tons. In the same period, according to national statistics, the total capacity of electrolytic aluminum in China in 2021 was 38503000 tons, and the built capacity of electrolytic aluminum in Inner Mongolia was about 6300000 tons. Holingol, relying on itself, occupies half of the industry in the whole Inner Mongolia.

At present, there are three large electrolytic aluminum enterprises in Holingol, namely Inner Mongolia Jinlian Aluminum Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Huomei Hongjun Aluminum & Electricity Co., Ltd., and Inner Mongolia Chuangyuan Metal Co., Ltd.

Inner Mongolia Jinlian Aluminum Co., Ltd., founded in October, 2010, has accumulated an investment of about 22 billion yuan, and has actually operated an electrolytic aluminum production capacity of 1.05 million tons. Installed capacity of electric power is 3.04 million kilowatts, and 2.38 million kilowatts have been operated. In 2021, the company produced 985400 tons of electrolytic aluminum, with an output value of 16.448 billion yuan, and the total number of employees at the end of the period was 2599.

Inner Mongolia Huomei Hongjun Aluminum & Electricity Co., Ltd. was established on November 27, 2002. The company's existing self-owned power plant has an installed capacity of 1850MW, plus an installed capacity of 400000 kilowatts in wind power. The capacity of electrolytic aluminum is 860000 tons (480000 tons in Holingol and 380000 tons in Zhalute Banner). In 2021, the company produced 878600 tons of electrolytic aluminum, with an output value of 14.5 billion yuan, paying tax of 1.429 billion yuan, a profit of 2.894 billion yuan, and the total number of employees at the end of the period was 4503.

Inner Mongolia Chuangyuan Metal Co., Ltd., established in 2012, plans to build a high-strength and high-toughness aluminum alloy project with an annual output of 800,000 tons and a total investment of 20 billion yuan. By 2021, the investment of more than 15.5 billion yuan has been completed, and the electrolytic aluminum production capacity of 787000 tons has been built via two phases, and four 330MW generating units have been built. In 2021, the production capacity reached 787000 tons, and 557800 tons of electrolytic aluminum was produced, with an output value of 8.876 billion yuan and a profit of 887 million yuan. At the end of the period, the total number of employees was 2574.

The above-mentioned three electrolytic aluminum enterprises have employed nearly 10,000 people, realized the output value of 39.824 billion yuan, and gradually extended the downstream industrial chain. A number of key enterprises such as Fuyao (Tongliao) Refined Aluminum, Liansheng, and Xuyang have flourished, and 24 new large-scale industrial enterprises have been built, which have driven in-depth development of aluminum industry. The local conversion rate of total production capacity is 77.05%.

Holingol's new thinking on aluminum industry development is to push the aluminum industry to a high level and focus on improving "innovation content, green content, and excellent content" of aluminum products. To strictly abide by "dual control" policy of eco-environmental protection and energy consumption, strengthen green supply of new energy, rely on industrial advantages, supporting advantages, consumption advantages, and first-mover advantages of developing new energy in Holingol City, strengthen the support of resources, technology, and equipment, consolidate and enhance the competitiveness of the energy industry chain, promote the formation of a variety of complementary, comprehensive, and intensive energy consumption modes, and build a green, low-carbon, intelligent, and innovative energy economic circle.

Holingol has a natural advantage in green energy substitution. In recent years, due to energy consumption, the development of electrolytic aluminum industry in the whole country has been restricted. Electrolytic aluminum, as its name implies, is the product of electrochemical reaction of electric current between the two poles in the electrolytic cell. Electrolytic aluminum consumes a great amount of electric energy, about 13,500 kWh per ton of electrolytic aluminum. Some experts predict that the industry will be controlled for a long time if the green energy substitution cannot be solved.

In Inner Mongolia, Tongliao City has a natural advantage of "wind and light" green energy, and compared with other league-level cities, the installed space of "wind and light" is huge, and the green energy has not been well released. It is reported that in 2021, the green electricity produced in Holingol was 1.946 billion kWh. Holingol City will continuously promote the construction of new energy projects and improve the green content of electrolytic aluminum products. In 2022, the City planned to develop 930000 kilowatts of new energy projects, including 470000 kilowatts of photovoltaics and 460000 kilowatts of wind power. After the new energy project is connected to the micro-grid of the industrial park, peak shaving can be carried out by the thermal power units after flexibility transformation, which can realize local consumption of all new energy electricity, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.9 million tons and save about 720000 tons of standard coal. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Holingol City plans to develop 1.75 million kilowatts of new energy projects, and about 2.2 million kilowatts will be introduced into Zhaqi Wind Power Base Project. By then, the installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind power will reach 1.29 million kilowatts and 2.66 million kilowatts respectively, which will generate about 11.7 billion kWh of new energy, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 9 million tons, and save about 3.5 million tons of standard coal.

Holingol City will increase the production capacity of green electricity, vigorously promote the land supply, implement 250000 kW Wind Power Project and 125000 kW Photovoltaic Power Generation Project of Chuangyuan Wind Power, 11 kW Photovoltaic Power Project, 100000 kW Wind Power Project, and 650000-ton Low Carbon Aluminum Demonstration Project of Jinlian Aluminum, and 300000-ton Recycled Aluminum Project of Chuangyuan Metal, promote the green and low-carbon energy consumption of electrolytic aluminum, and the establishment of low-carbon park pilot. Total planned investment is 32.12 billion yuan, with 59 key projects implemented, to build the first low-carbon industrial park in eastern Inner Mongolia. Implement intelligent transformation, build intelligent factories, and improve the level of intelligent manufacturing.

Holingol municipal government guides the transformation of local electrolytic aluminum industry, actively promotes the technological transformation project of 350kA electrolytic cell of Huomei Hongjun Aluminum & Electricity Company, the deep energy-saving optimization project of 400KA electrolytic cell of Jinlian Aluminum, and the lining optimization design project of 500KA electrolytic cell and the energy-saving and water-saving technological transformation project of supporting power plants of Chuangyuan Metal, and promotes the transformation and development of electrolytic aluminum enterprises to energy-saving and water-saving directions.

Holingol City has continuously increased the aluminum deep processing industry and promoted the industry space. The aluminum processing capacity under construction and to be planned is over 300,000 tons, and four sub-industrial chains, namely, "primary aluminum-aluminum alloy-die casting deep processing", "primary aluminum-aluminum alloy-profile deep processing", "primary aluminum-high-purity aluminum-aluminum foil deep processing", and "primary aluminum-ultrafine aluminum powder-high-end aluminum silver paste", have been initially formed. From simple extrusion processing to intensive processing, aluminum industry in Holingol, which has changed from quantitative development to qualitative development in more than ten years, is vacating space for new productive forces and upgrading.

In recent years, due to the transportation of molten aluminum and the market demand of aluminum ingots, the supply of molten aluminum in and around Holingol is in short supply. The prices of raw materials (including alumina, carbon anode, etc.) required for the production of electrolytic aluminum have increased substantially, and the production cost of enterprises has increased. The price of alumina increased by 1000 yuan per ton, 42.7% above the corresponding period of last year, resulting in an increase in the cost of electrolytic aluminum by about 1900 yuan per ton. The price of carbon anode increased by 3786 yuan per ton, 102.3% above the corresponding period of last year, resulting in an increase in the cost of electrolytic aluminum by about 1700 yuan per ton. By the end of July this year, the average cost per ton of raw materials for electrolytic aluminum was 9894 yuan/ton, about 2900 yuan/ton above the corresponding period of last year.

According to the demand of molten aluminum in 2022 reported by 17 aluminum processing enterprises in Holingol, the gap is over 100000 tons, and the total is over 300000 tons when considering the aluminum processing capacity under construction and planned.

Since the beginning of 2022, a number of new projects in the aluminum industry chain have started construction. The light high-strength aluminum alloy project with an annual output of 400000 tons of Chuangyuan Metal in Inner Mongolia has been regarded as a key project at the autonomous region level, and the project has reached the production conditions after equipment installation and commissioning. The 400000-ton aluminum alloy project for vehicles is a support for downstream lightweight vehicles. After the project is put into production, the annual output value can reach 9 billion yuan, the added value can be increased to 400 million yuan, the tax paid will be 80 to 100 million yuan, and the total employment of the whole project is about 500 people.

Similarly, the second-phase extrusion project of Fuyao (Tongliao) Refined Aluminum Co., Ltd. was put into trial production in June this year. In the past, the added value of one ton of primary aluminum was about 300 yuan. After the completion of this production line, the added value of one ton of aluminum profile was more than 2000 yuan. This project is invested by Fuyao (Tongliao) Refined Aluminum Co., Ltd. for 120 million yuan to build an aluminum alloy bar and aluminum alloy auto parts and materials project in Holingol City. It mainly produces 6-series aluminum alloy round cast bars as raw materials for automotive accessories and luggage racks, with an annual output of 6,000-8,000 tons. The products have passed customer verification for mass production. At present, the second phase of the project is further expanded, and the production capacity of alloy bars will reach 20000 tons/year after completion. At the same time, the two extrusion production lines invested and constructed can form a production capacity of 10000 tons of automotive accessories, luggage racks, and other products.

In the next step, Holingol will aim at the key links, missing links, and weak links of the aluminum industry chain, and move towards informationization around greening, clustering, high-end, and scale. Aiming at the direction of aluminum alloy, aluminum foil, high-purity aluminum, lightweight automotive, etc., the overall layout of the aluminum industry is based on the idea of "extending the chain at both ends, supplementing the chain in the middle, and strengthening the chain".