2015 CMRA Convention: Trying harder in trying times

Representatives of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metals Branch (CMRA), which held its 2015 Annual Convention in Ningbo, China, in early November, warned that the “new normal” economy of China means an end to rapidly growing metals production capacity.

Ren Xudong, executive vice president of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA), portrayed a mixture of good and bad conditions for nonferrous metals producers.

Many base metal sectors, he said, have an excess capacity issue and “prices are in a downturn both at home and abroad.”

Figures for secondary metals production in China for the first nine months in 2015 show aluminum output up 5.5 percent and lead up by 15 percent, but secondary copper production has dropped by 7.1 percent, according to Ren.

The secondary nonferrous sector, said Ren, is “important to help establish the green, low-carbon system” China is seeking, but companies will have to seek out their own opportunities. “We need to be confident and take measures to look for new areas of growth in this industry,” Ren stated.

Wang Jiwei, vice president and secretary general of the CMRA, said the “new normal” of slower economic growth in China has made 2015 a difficult year for producers, with “capacity rates of some enterprises [being] less than 50 percent.”

During China’s 12^th Five Year Plan era from 2011 to 2015, major investments in nonferrous production created facilities capable of producing up to 750,000 tons per year of copper or lead in one place.

The five-year timeframe also will have witnessed China having brought in some 33 million tons of imported nonferrous scrap, according to Wang.

The 13^th Five Year Plan era may not feature such rampant growth, said Wang, but initiatives such as “Made in China 2025” and “One Belt, One Road” should bring policy support and technological advances to the sector, according to Wang. “I hope Chinese enterprises can join forces with foreign colleagues to develop the sector,” he stated.

The 2015 CMRA Annual Convention was Nov. 7-9 at the Shangri-La Ningbo in Ningbo, China.