Non-ferrous metal industry

Guangxi possesses particularly large mineral reserves and types of non-ferrous metals, and the region is one of the 10 key producing areas of non-ferrous metals in China.

Abundant in bauxite resources, Guangxi has actively pushed forward development and growth policies, stepping up efforts for the transformation and upgrading of its aluminum and aluminum processing industry over the past 60 years since the region’s founding, making the region an important aluminum industrial base in China.

Over years of development, a relatively complete aluminum industrial chain has taken shape in the region. In 2017, the main business income of Guangxi’s aluminum industry recorded about 115 billion yuan ($17.16 billion). The output of aluminum oxide and electrolytic aluminum totaled 10.46 million and 1.21 million metric tons respectively, accounting for 15.2 percent and 3.7 percent of the country’s total, ranking 4th and 8th in the country.

To start a new undertaking of its aluminum industry, Guangxi released a blueprint in 2015. According to the blueprint, Guangxi was expected to further optimize the primary ecological aluminum industrial chain, accelerate the development of bauxite and aluminum oxide, as well as the deep-processing of aluminum and aluminum alloy.

On July 4, 2018, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region unveiled the “Action Plan for High-quality Industrial Development (2018-20)”. The action plan stated that Guangxi will set up deep-processing industrial clusters to promote the large-scale, intensive, and standardized development of the aluminum industry. The government will also increase spending on research and development (R&D), and establish a host of R&D platforms for enterprises.

Highly purified aluminum products applied in the fields of aerospace, vehicles and ships, construction, and electronics will be developed and produced, with deep-processing bases of aluminum to be set up in Liuzhou, Laibin, and Hezhou. Ecological aluminum bases and R&D innovative bases will also be built in Guangxi in order to create a new highland for the development of the country’s ecological aluminum. It is expected that the total output value of the aluminum industry will hit 200 billion yuan by 2020.