Chalco, Aluminum Makers Rise After Alcoa Increases Forecast

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. gained in Chinese stock market trading after Alcoa Inc. increased its forecast for global aluminum consumption. Aluminum Corp. of China, the nation’s biggest maker of the lightweight metal and also called Chalco, jumped 8.4 percent to 13.32 yuan at 2:20 p.m. in Shanghai, set for the largest gain since July 24. Its Hong Kong-traded shares traded 4.8 percent higher at HK$8.55 at the 12:30 p.m. trading break. Shandong Nanshan Aluminum Co., the No. 2, added 7.2 percent to 10.26 yuan in Shanghai while Yunnan Aluminium Co., China’s fifth largest, rose 8.6 percent to 11.63 yuan in Shenzhen. Alcoa expects China’s consumption of the material to rise 4 percent this year, compared with Alcoa’s previous prediction of zero growth, Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said in an interview in New York. That alters the company’s outlook for global demand to a decline of 5.5 percent from a previous forecast of minus 7 percent, he said. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 4.6 percent, while the Hang Seng Index added 1.3 percent in Hong Kong. --Zhang Shidong. Editor: Richard Frost To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Zhang Shidong in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-7014 or szhang5@bloomberg.net