The Global Trade Landscape of Aluminum Profiles and China's Industrial Upgrading

In 2024, China's aluminum profiles output accounted for 65% of the global total, but its export structure reveals a dual imbalance: the share of the Southeast Asian market rose to 39%, while the share in Europe and the U.S. dropped to 12% due to a 32.6% anti-dumping duty. Industrial upgrading shows a three-pronged breakthrough trend:

Breakthrough in Localization of High-End Materials

• The localization rate of 7050 aviation aluminum materials has exceeded 50%, but the yield rate (65%) still lags behind Alcoa's 82%.
• Domestic ultra-thin-walled profiles (0.8mm) are used in the auxiliary structures of C919, but 70% of the main load-bearing components still rely on imports.
• Huafeng Aluminum's Chongqing base put into operation a 450,000-ton new energy aluminum plate, strip and foil project. The tolerance of battery shell materials is controlled at ±0.1mm, and the defect rate is reduced to 0.02%.

Construction of Green Manufacturing Systems

• The EU's CBAM carbon tariff has driven the upgrading of recycled aluminum technology:
• The smelting energy consumption of Zhongwang Group's recycled aluminum has dropped to 1,300 kWh/ton, saving 95% energy compared with primary aluminum.
• The proportion of recycled aluminum in power battery trays has increased to 50%, with silicon content controlled at 0.12%±0.02.
• The number of ASI-certified enterprises has increased to 12, and the industry's average recycled aluminum usage rate is expected to rise from 35% to the 2025 target of 48%.

Technical Premium of Customization

• In 2024, customized orders for industrial aluminum profiles accounted for 35%, an increase of 18 percentage points from 2020. Core technical breakthroughs include:
• Multi-hole (split flow die) technology achieves one-time forming of 8-cavity anti-collision beams for new energy vehicles.
• Isothermal extrusion technology controls the flatness deviation of photovoltaic bracket profiles within 0.15mm/m.

• The rolling technology for ultra-thin foils (0.006mm) used in aluminum-plastic membranes has broken the monopoly of Japanese enterprises.

According to CRU forecasts, by 2026, the export proportion of China's high-end industrial aluminum profiles will increase to 35%, and the technical premium space will expand to $1,200/ton.