China, the world's top aluminium producer, may produce 20 million tonnes of primary aluminium this year out of capacity of 25 million tonnes, an official from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said on Wednesday.
The figures would represent a rise of 24 percent from last year's production and a 14 percent increase in capacity.
Most smelters that had idled some capacity were restarting it, the powerful industry body's Beijing-appointed aluminium division chief Hu Zhang Ping told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in the eastern port city of Ningbo.
Electricity supplies fell between December last year and January, forcing smelters in the major producing provinces of Henan and Guizhou to close well over 1 million tonnes of capacity.
"Output should reach 20 million tonnes this year," Hu said.
Hu's 2011 output estimate was higher than the 19 million tonnes expected by top aluminium producer Chalco and a forecast of 19.5 million tonnes by Antaike, a research arm of the industry body.
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