In order to further expand aluminum application scenarios and expand the aluminum consumer market, on July 3, the 2024 Expansion Aluminum Application Forum hosted by the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association was held in Shanghai. The theme of this forum is "Aluminum saving copper". The conference was strongly supported by the Department of Raw Materials of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Reed Exhibitions Group, Yantai Fuxinda Bimetal Co., LTD., Longi Green Energy Technology Co., LTD., and other units.
Ge Honglin, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association; Chen Xuesen, Standing Committee Member and Vice President of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association; Zhang Meihui, Director of Raw Materials Department of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; Ye Dingda, Chief Economist of China Machinery Industry Federation; Chen Jingliang, Deputy Secretary General of China Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association; Miles Prosser, Secretary General of International Aluminum Association; Zhang LAN, Senior Vice President of Reed Exhibitions Greater China, attended the meeting, and Fan Shunke, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, presided over the opening ceremony of the meeting.
Ge Honglin made an opening speech entitled "Expanding application and ceaselessly with aluminum copper is the right time". He said that expanding the application of aluminum represents the new requirements of the country's development in the new era, conforms to the new economic needs of the development of the new era, and must be driven and done for a long time.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the non-ferrous Association and aluminum processing enterprises have actively responded to the call of the state, and strive to meet the new needs of economic development in the new era, on the one hand, vigorously carry out a series of production and operation activities such as "replacing steel with aluminum", "connecting wood with aluminum" and "connecting copper with aluminum", on the other hand, continue to tap new growth points of aluminum consumption and cultivate new momentum for expanding applications. From industry to civil use, the total aluminum consumption has increased by more than 20 million tons, covering many fields such as automobiles, construction, electricity, packaging, furniture, machinery, etc., and has achieved many good application results, representing the market demand of the new era. The achievements of the expansion of aluminum applications fully show that the expansion of aluminum applications has much to do, and it is proud that China's work to expand aluminum applications has not only promoted domestic aluminum consumption, but also led to the development of global expansion of aluminum applications, which has become the growth pole of development and the wind vane of development.
Ge Honglin said that over the past decade, the expansion of aluminum applications has achieved remarkable results, but there are still many difficulties and challenges. Internally, first, there are still some obstacles in understanding, policy and institutional mechanisms to expand the application of aluminum; Second, aluminum prices should be kept in a reasonable range to have market competitiveness; Third, new applications that are still in their infancy also need government support, market cultivation and support from industry enterprises. Externally, we face a complex and grim international situation. On the one hand, the world economy is still in the process of recovery. On the other hand, trade protectionism is on the rise, traditional trade frictions are normal, and barriers to new situations such as the US Xinjiang-related bill and carbon border regulation mechanism are emerging in endlessly.
Ge Honglin stressed that the expansion of aluminum applications must keep pace with The Times, in general, we must adhere to the principle of marketization, based on the current and future demand orientation, active knowledge of change, strain for change, take the trend, go without going, a long time for work. To this end, we need to do four things in particular:
First, we need to stabilize and expand traditional aluminum consumption. First of all, actively serve the major national strategies, and firmly do a good job of supporting aluminum materials such as national defense and major projects; Secondly, make good use of national policies, continue to do a good job in the promotion and application of aluminum products such as doors and Windows, infrastructure, electricity, machinery and equipment, and continue to tap the consumption potential of traditional fields; Third, focus on the structural changes in consumption such as lightweight transportation, upgrading of durable consumer goods, safety and environmental protection of packaging containers, and increase the application of aluminum in automobiles, household appliances, furniture, food packaging and other products.
Second, we must cultivate and expand new aluminum consumption. First of all, we must continue to tap the new needs of the "new three". Secondly, accelerate the development of new growth points of aluminum in green consumption and health consumption, and comprehensively promote the development of aluminum application scenarios such as green food, green housing, green transportation, and green supplies. Third, scientific and technological innovation to promote material innovation, product innovation, application innovation, to better meet the development of quality consumption.
Third, aluminum copper is in line with the national strategy, and it is the right time. Compared with the guarantee degree of copper and aluminum resources, the shortage of copper resources is more prominent, and the external dependence is more than 80%, and the copper price is easily controlled by overseas multinational companies to a large extent. Promoting copper saving with aluminum is conducive to maintaining the security of copper resources in our country. It is necessary to seize the opportunity, accelerate the development of new copper saving products, fully tap the potential of copper saving, and maximize the realization of copper saving goals.
Fourth, we must maintain the basic level of foreign trade. Adhere to the down-to-earth to do their own thing, constantly consolidate and enhance the core competitiveness, with high-quality products, high level of cost performance, high standard of foreign trade business level, and continue to win the international market, and strive to promote the high-level export of aluminum and products.
Zhang Meihui said in his speech that a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial change, lightweight technology, new material technology and other cross-integration have created a new historical opportunity for the development of the aluminum industry. First, we will strengthen industrial technological innovation. We will strengthen the orientation of carbon emission reduction, accelerate research and development of new green and energy-saving technologies and equipment, and phase out inefficient and backward production processes. Focusing on the development needs of high-end manufacturing industries such as aerospace and new energy vehicles, we will strengthen upstream and downstream collaborative innovation, strive to break through bottlenecks such as the research and development of new aluminum alloys and high-end materials, and strengthen the supply capacity of aluminum-based new materials. Encourage the development of recycled aluminum grade protection recycling technology, improve the level of recycled aluminum classification recovery and recycling. Second, we will accelerate green and intelligent development. Encourage electrolytic aluminum enterprises to actively participate in the construction of wind power and photovoltaic power stations, and increase the proportion of green electricity use. Accelerate the construction of a green and low-carbon public service platform for the non-ferrous metal industry, and provide low-carbon technology services and solutions for enterprises. Deepen digital technology to enable the development of the aluminum industry, focus on the whole process of perception, interconnection, control and other digital technology research, the formation of digital intelligent solutions, to create a number of international leading benchmarking factories. Third, continue to expand the potential of aluminum consumption. Combined with the "combination" of equipment renewal and transformation and consumption promotion policies, we strive to stabilize the basic plate of aluminum consumption in traditional fields such as building structures. Adhere to demand-oriented, improve the supply quality and guarantee ability of automotive materials, photovoltaic profiles, battery foils, etc., and support the development of domestic "new three" industries. Around the traffic lightweight, furniture home, daily packaging, municipal facilities and other large application scenarios, improve the aluminization rate of products, expand aluminum consumption.
Ye Dingda said that aluminum has broad application prospects in the field of machinery industry. He put forward three proposals: First, seize the opportunity to deepen industrial chain exchanges and cooperation. Enterprises in the non-ferrous metals and machinery industries should adhere to mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, accelerate the formation of advantages integration and complementarity, and strengthen communication and coordination with end users. Second, we need to make precise efforts to foster and develop new quality productive forces. It is hoped that the aluminum industry will continue to deepen the research and development of aluminum alloy material technology, and lay a solid foundation for the expansion and application of "aluminum saving copper" in power transmission and transformation equipment, new energy vehicles, heat exchangers and other market segments. Third, tackle difficulties and help the industry achieve high-quality development. The machinery industry hopes to strengthen exchanges with the Nonferrous Metals Association and jointly seek comprehensive solutions for the "jam neck" link in key core areas to better promote the high-quality development of the nonferrous metals and machinery industry.
Chen Jingliang introduced that copper with aluminum has achieved positive results in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry, but there are still many challenges to further expand the application of aluminum. He said that in order to ensure the long-term reliability of refrigeration and air conditioning products under the premise of expanding the application of aluminum, we need to take various measures: first, the joint industry forces to strengthen technology research and development, and gradually solve the technical difficulties in expanding the application of aluminum; Second, increase policy support and formulate policy measures to support copper saving with aluminum from the national, industrial and enterprise levels; Third, it is guided by standards to formulate unified standards for aluminum material application processing technology, inspection methods and parts products, improve product quality and standardize the development of the industry; The fourth is to strengthen the popularization of aluminum application and strengthen consumers' awareness and confidence in the innovation of copper with aluminum.
Miles Prosser said in his speech that sustainable development can continue to increase the demand for aluminum, and the emphasis on sustainable development can help promote the aluminum industry to achieve high-quality development. Thanks to the excellent characteristics of aluminum, such as light weight and recyclability, aluminum has become an important metal material for economic and social sustainable development in many applications. The aluminum industry needs to seize the opportunity to become an alternative material to improve sustainability.
Zhang LAN believes that expanding the application of aluminum is not only related to the efficient use of resources and environmental protection, but also the key to promoting industrial transformation and upgrading and achieving green economic growth. The future of the aluminum industry lies in constantly exploring high-end application scenarios and continuously promoting technological innovation and industrial upgrading. From the research and development of high-performance aluminum alloy materials, to the practice of lightweight design, to the deep integration of circular economy and recycled aluminum, each step is a solid step towards the future possibilities of the aluminum industry.
The forum invited Sun Jiansheng, deputy chief engineer of Shanghai Cable Research Institute Co., LTD., Fu Linyu, deputy general manager of Yantai Fuxinda Bimetal Co., LTD., Shang Zhengping, general manager of Jiangsu Zhongshi Composite Materials Co., LTD., Wang Fei, director of Haier Air conditioning Performance Innovation Institute, Yu Haiqing, Client director of Longji Green Energy Technology Co., LTD., Chen Hao, assistant general manager of Tongling Jingxun Special enameled Wire Co., LTD., reported on the application prospect of aluminum cable, the application status and trend of copper and aluminum composite materials for electrical engineering, the new progress and application status of laminates composite materials, the application progress of aluminum heat exchanger in household air conditioning, the application of aluminum alloy materials in the photovoltaic field, and the market analysis and development of aluminum enameled wire. Mo Xinda, director of Light Metal Department and deputy secretary-general of Aluminum Branch of China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association, presided over the report.
As a green metal and energy storage metal, aluminum is an unlimited metal that supports the development potential of emerging industries. Expanding aluminum applications will promote the high-quality development of China's aluminum industry, and let's look forward to more possibilities for aluminum applications!
