Since 2002, the output of electrolytic aluminum in China electrolytic aluminum industry has been in surplus. Due to the declining demand of downstream industries, it is estimated that the surplus of electrolytic aluminum in China will reach 500,000 tons in 2008. The growth rate of demand for electrolytic aluminum slowed down. Affected by the economic crisis, the demand growth rate of real estate and automobile industry has dropped sharply, the demand of power equipment industry has maintained rapid growth, and the demand of electrolytic aluminum in packaging industry has remained stable. In 2008, the growth rate of demand for electrolytic aluminum was around 10%. China is short of bauxite resources, and aluminum resources can only last for 10 years, which is impossible to support the annual expansion rate of electrolytic aluminum industry of about 20%. The production cost of electrolytic aluminum is10.50 million yuan/ton-10.75 million yuan/ton, while the price of electrolytic aluminum is only10.34 million yuan/ton, resulting in serious losses in the industry. With the further decline of raw materials, the average production cost of electrolytic aluminum enterprises in China is also around10.5 million yuan, and it is unlikely that the aluminum price will drop sharply. The price of aluminum may return to 15000 yuan/ton around June 2009.

In the case of rising energy prices, major aluminum companies in the world began to ensure the price competitiveness of aluminum production by reducing the costs of all aspects of electrolytic aluminum production. From the perspective of domestic policy, the orientation of national industrial policy for aluminum industry is to meet domestic demand, and there will be policy differences between high-tech products and low-tech products. Therefore, mastering the development trends of transportation, electric power, packaging, household appliances and other industries, actively introducing advanced equipment, improving technical capabilities and reducing production costs have become the main development directions of aluminum enterprises.