Chalco Says Hasn't Had Warning of Power Stoppages

SHANGHAI, Jan. 8 -- Top Chinese aluminium firm Chalco (2600.HK: Quote) has not had any notification that cold weather might cause potential power stoppages, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Earlier a media report quoted a metals analyst as saying some smelters in Henan, the top aluminium-producing province, had received notices from power suppliers to prepare for stoppages.

"As far as I know, our smelters in Henan have not received such a notice," said Liu Qiang, secretary to the board of directors at Chalco, or Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd.

An executive at another aluminium smelter in Henan also denied the report.

"We haven't received any notice on power stoppage. We do get reduced power supply during peak residential use hours," he said.

Chalco's Liu also said smelters in other provinces had not heard of such a thing, as far as she knew.

Cold weather across Henan and other parts of central China has forced the region's power grid, which has seen record loads on its network in the last few days, to ration power.

But analysts doubt the re-emergence of the widespread shortages seen in 2008, when power plants curbed coal stocks and power output because of soaring coal costs.