The world’s largest aluminium producer expects to increase its capacity this year, in spite of a global glut that has depressed utilisation rates and weighed on prices for the lightweight metal.

今年，全球最大的铝生产企业预计将扩大产能，尽管全球供应过剩已经压低了铝利用率并拖累了这一轻金属的价格。

China Hongqiao, the world’s largest aluminium producer by capacity, on Monday said it planned to increase capacity to 6m tonnes by the end of 2016 from 5.19m tonnes at the end of last year, depending on market conditions.

周一，全球产能最大的铝生产企业中国宏桥(China Hongqiao)表示，计划到2016年底时把产能从去年底的519万吨提高到600万吨，具体进度会依市场情况而定。

Zhang Bo, chief executive, said: “If demand is good, we will stick with the plan. If not, we can slow down new capacity expansion or even suspend it.”

该公司行政总裁张波说：“如果需求旺盛，我们会按照计划来进行。如果需求疲软，我们会放慢新增产能计划甚至暂停扩张。”

The group added it would spend up to Rmb15bn ($2.3bn) in expanding capacity and retrofitting coal-fired power plants to meet China’s stricter emissions requirements.

该公司补充称，将花费至多150亿元人民币（合23亿美元）扩大产能和改造燃煤电厂，以满足中国更加严格的排放要求。

Better known in the industry as Shandong Weiqiao Aluminium & Electricity, Hongqiao reported 2015 sales up 39 per cent year on year to 4.12m tonnes, in spite of production cuts at the end of the year as aluminium margins deteriorated.

宏桥的财报称，2015年的销量同比增长39%，至412万吨，尽管铝产品利润率恶化导致该公司在去年底降低了产量。

Fuelled by cheap power and the need to keep producing in order to repay loans, Chinese aluminium smelters have flooded international markets, forcing western producers to cut output and leading to dumping allegations in the US.

在低电价和为偿还贷款而维持生产的需求的推动下，中国炼铝企业涌向了国际市场，西方生产商被迫减产，美国还就此提出了倾销指控。

China now accounts for more than half of the world’s aluminium production and its debt-laden smelters’ ability to continue producing is the main factor in when the global supply glut will tighten.

如今，中国铝产量占全球的一半以上，中国负债累累的炼铝企业维持生产的能力，是决定全球供应过剩何时会缓解的主要因素。

The lightweight metal is trading at $1,550 per tonne, having recovered slightly from a seven-year low late last year.

目前铝价约为每吨1550美元，较去年底的7年低点略有回升。

Hongqiao is one of several Chinese smelters that have set up a company to buy excess inventory, which has helped bolster prices but done little to solve the underlying fundamental oversupply in the industry.

包括宏桥在内的几家中国炼铝企业都设立了一家公司来收购过剩的存货，此举帮助提振了铝价，但基本无助于解决该行业根本性的供应过剩问题。

Chinese exporters, led by aluminium extrusion producer Zhongwang, have also attracted short-sellers suspicious of their reported margins. Hongqiao’s reported margin fell from 26 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent last year, and Mr Zhang said he expected margins to stay stable this year.

以铝型材生产商忠旺(Zhongwang)为首的中国铝材出口商，还引来了对它们财报中的利润率心存怀疑的做空机构的关注。宏桥的财报显示，去年，该公司利润率从2014年的26%降至20%。张波表示，他预计今年利润率将会保持稳定。

Hong Kong-listed Hongqiao reported a 31 per cent drop in net profit to Rmb3.65bn, in spite of a 22 per cent rise in revenues. Gross current liabilities soared from Rmb28bn to Rmb42bn, and the group booked Rmb1bn in foreign exchange losses due to the impact of a weaker renminbi on its foreign currency debt.

香港上市的宏桥报告称，净利润下降了31%，至36.5亿元人民币，尽管收入增长了22%。总流动负债从280亿元人民币飙升至420亿元人民币。另外，由于外币债务受到人民币贬值的冲击，该公司的汇兑损失达到10亿元人民币。

Private aluminium groups such as Hongqiao have benefited by buying electricity from generators they control, or sourcing cheap power from hydropower dams and coal-fired plants constructed during China’s infrastructure binge of the past decade. Many of Hongqiao’s customers are clustered around its Shandong smelter, allowing production efficiencies when they buy its molten aluminium.

从自己控股的电厂买电，或者向过去十年基建热潮中兴建的水电站和燃煤电厂购买廉价电力，令宏桥等民营铝业集团获益不少。宏桥的许多客户就聚集在这家山东铝企的周围，它们购买宏桥的熔融铝时，可因为这一点而提高生产效率。

“Hongqiao has captive power, they don’t have the employment legacies like [state-owned] Chalco and they are a little more innovative in terms of their shipping of molten metal,” said Michael Komesaroff, industry analyst at Urandaline Investments.

“宏桥有自备的电力，没有（国有的）中铝(Chalco)那样的就业遗留问题，而且在熔融金属运输方面显得略微更具创新性，”Urandaline Investments的行业分析师迈克尔•科梅萨罗夫(Michael Komesaroff)表示。

Smelters including Hongqiao have been forced to build expensive alumina refineries in Indonesia after that country outlawed shipments of bauxite ore in an effort to attract industrial investment.

由于印度尼西亚为吸引工业投资而发布禁令禁止铝矾土出口，宏桥等炼铝企业被迫在印尼兴建了高成本的氧化铝精炼厂。

Mr Zhang said the company planned to prioritise shipments from a new bauxite mine in Guinea this year. Hongqiao’s projected imports account for about one-quarter of China’s total bauxite imports.

张波表示，今年公司打算优先由几内亚的一处新铝土矿进口。宏桥的预期进口量约占中国铝矾土进口总量的四分之一。