bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Carol Chan

Beijing plans to establish a near-monopoly copper giant, like Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) in the aluminium industry, in an attempt to consolidate the fragmented industry and boost competitiveness, according to mainland media.  
The raw materials division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) would co-ordinate the restructuring plan, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing industrial sources.
Three preliminary proposals have been suggested, including setting up a central government-owned group to take over all of the mainland's state-owned copper companies, which are now owned by myriad local governments.
A second proposal is to take over the companies through an existing government-owned enterprise, in which Chinalco, the controlling shareholder of Yunnan Copper Group, may become a major consolidator, the newspaper said.
State-owned Chinalco controls more than half the mainland's alumina market and about 25 per cent of the aluminium market. Yunnan Copper was the mainland's third-biggest copper producer last year, producing 380,000 tonnes of refined copper.
The third proposal involves cross-province mergers and acquisitions among major copper producers, the report said.
Pan Qifang, the company secretary of Jiangxi Copper, the mainland's biggest producer of the metal, said he did not know of such a plan but warned that the industry and local governments would oppose such a reform. 
According to a revitalisation plan for the non-ferrous metals industry published by the MIIT in May, the ministry pledged to set up three to five big multi-metal firms by 2011 through mergers and acquisitions. 
By then, the top 10 firms would control 90 per cent of copper production, 70 per cent of the aluminium sector, 60 per cent of the lead sector and 60 per cent of the zinc sector. 
Zhao Bo, deputy secretary general of the Nonferrous Metals Society of China's copper smelting sub-committee, also predicted opposition from copper producers and local governments.
Most copper producers were making handsome profits and would not want to be merged with other groups, Mr Zhao said.
Local governments would also be reluctant to hand over copper assets to the central government, because they contributed tax revenues.



Beijing plans to establish copper giant to consolidate industry