China's Xinfa Group has closed 530,500 tonnes of annual illegal aluminium production capacity, according to a statement by a local government in eastern Shandong province.
A team of experts from Jinan-based Ailinte Safety Technology Consulting Co, accompanied by local government officials and Xinfa Chairman Zhang Xuexin, visited Xinfa smelting facilities on July 30 to check that the closures had been carried out, the Chiping county government said on its website.
A total of 426 units at Xinfa subsidiaries Huaxin Aluminium, Huayuan Aluminium and Xinyuan Group had been shut down as of July 28, the posting said.
Xinfa officials were not immediately available to comment.
The scale of the closure is in line with analysts' expectations.
China, the world's biggest aluminium producer and consumer, is clamping down on unauthorized manufacturing capacity for the metal and carrying out a wave of inspections to ensure facilities meet environmental standards.
Paul Adkins, managing director of consultancy AZ China, reckons that around 2.2 million tonnes of illegal Chinese aluminium capacity has been shuttered since 2013.
Adkins estimated last week on the Reuters Global Base Metals Forum that Xinfa had 1.1 million tonnes per year of illegal capacity and was shutting down half of that.
Aluminium was trading up 0.7% at 14,485 yuan($2,155.80) a tonne at 0314 GMT on the Shanghai Futures Exchange on Tuesday.
($1 = 6.7191 Chinese yuan)
