The import of high-precision aluminum plates and strips is expected to remain the main variety of aluminum imports in China in the coming years. By the end of 2010, China had 71% of the world''s total number of single stand double coil aluminum strip hot rolling mills (including those under construction); Multi rack hot rolling production lines (including under construction) account for 29% of the global total; Cold rolling mills account for 50% of the global market.
By 2010, only aluminum sheet for automotive body was still in a vacant state, and there is still no professional production line for automotive body aluminum sheet at the global advanced level. The "shortcoming" in the production of aluminum sheet for automobile body is the lack of modern and high-tech finishing equipment. Due to the mechanical, corrosion resistance, good formability, weldability, and excellent baking hardening properties of automotive body aluminum strips, there are various extremely strict quality requirements for the surface state of aluminum strips. From a domestic perspective, although aluminum alloy strips can also be produced for passenger car doors and engine covers, their production is limited due to the lack of high-level finishing equipment and research and development constraints, and their quality does not meet the requirements of automotive manufacturers.
In 2010, China''s automobile production reached 18.26 million units. In the context of energy conservation and emission reduction both domestically and internationally, the process of lightweighting automobiles is accelerating, creating excellent market opportunities for the application of aluminum and aluminum materials in the automotive industry. Aluminum processing expert Wang Zhutang stated that it is estimated that according to the current development trend of China''s automotive industry, the aluminum sheet used in China''s automotive industry may reach 550000-600000 tons by 2015.
The conditions for China to establish an automotive aluminum material center are basically met. Whoever invests in the automotive body aluminum plate and strip market first will benefit first. Who will seize the market gap of China''s high-precision aluminum sheet and strip - automotive body aluminum sheet and strip, the industry will wait and see. There are three things that can be confirmed. Firstly, China will definitely build a modern level production line for automotive body aluminum sheet and strip; Secondly, manufacturers of aluminum plates and strips for automobile bodies must have billets produced using modern hot rolling methods; Thirdly, it is necessary to have a series of modern automobile body aluminum plate and strip finishing production lines.