[SMM Aluminum Flash News] China Studies Coal Waste as New Source of Critical Metals

Vietnamese industrial group THACO is accelerating plans to expand its bauxite and alumina business in Lam Dong Province with proposed investments worth about USD 4.4 billion. The Lam Dong 2 alumina project, valued at around USD 1.9 billion, is designed to produce 2 million tones of alumina annually, with the first 1 million-tone phase targeted for commissioning by 2030. THACO also plans a USD 2.5 billion bauxite mining project with annual ore extraction capacity of about 12 million tones. In addition, the company is studying downstream industrial parks covering aluminum smelting, titanium processing and chemical production. If approved, the projects could turn Lam Dong into one of Vietnam’s largest integrated aluminum industry hubs.

Aluminum began gaining wider use in vehicle manufacturing in the 1990s when Audi launched the aluminum-bodied A8 to reduce vehicle weight compared with traditional steel designs. To offset the additional weight from its Quattro all-wheel-drive system, Audi developed the Aluminum Space Frame (ASF), allowing the first-generation A8 to weigh about 500 pounds less than a comparable BMW 7 Series. The lighter structure improved handling, fuel efficiency and performance. The success of the A8 later encouraged automakers including Ford and Jaguar to expand aluminum applications, reinforcing aluminum’s growing role in vehicle lightweighting, corrosion resistance and recyclability.

[SMM Update] SHFE data showed that on May 22, the total registered cast aluminum alloy warrants stood at 39,454 mt, an increase of 323 mt from the previous trading day. By region, Shanghai registered 2,720 mt (up 205 mt), Guangdong 10,646 mt (down 151 mt), Jiangsu 7,532 mt (up 0 mt), Zhejiang 12,153 mt (up 0 mt), Chongqing 5,408 mt (up 269 mt), and Sichuan 995 mt (up 0 mt).