On June 6, 2025, Allison Ju, Senior Manager of SMM's Aluminum Overseas Sales Team, and Cathy Liu, SMM's Aluminum Analyst, led a delegation to PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery (hereinafter referred to as "WHW"), where they held in-depth discussions with WHW's management at its Jakarta office.

On June 6, 2025, Ju Anran, Senior Manager of SMM's aluminum category, and Liu Xinyi, Analyst of SMM's aluminum category, led a delegation to PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery (hereinafter referred to as "WHW") . They held in-depth discussions and exchanges with WHW's management at its Jakarta office. Company Profile Established in 2015, WHW is the first Smelter Grade Alumina (SGA) alumina refinery in Indonesia. The project was jointly invested by China Hongqiao Group Co. Ltd. (holding 56% stake), PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk, a subsidiary of Indonesia's Harita Group (holding 30% stake), Winning Investment (HK) Co., Ltd., and Shandong Weiqiao Aluminum & Power Co., Ltd., with a total investment of approximately $1.3 billion. As of year-end 2020, the paid-in capital had reached $1.2 billion. The plant is located in Sungai Tengar District, Mekar Utama Village, Ketapang County, West Kalimantan Province, covering an area of over 1,000 hectares. The first phase, with an annual production capacity of 1 million mt, commenced operations in June 2016 and was expanded to 2 million mt/year in 2022. It is equipped with a steam power plant, an international-standard wharf, and employee dormitory areas. Its products not only meet the demand of local aluminum smelters in Indonesia but are also exported to major markets such as China, India, and Malaysia. During the discussions, both sides explored core issues including WHW's existing production capacity, the composition of raw material and electricity costs, and the promotion of green and low-carbon production technologies. Through communication, both sides enhanced their understanding, further solidified the foundation of mutual trust, and reached preliminary intentions in potential areas such as technological cooperation, raw material exchange, and joint R&D. This visit not only laid a solid foundation for establishing a long-term and stable cooperative relationship in the future but also opened up new opportunities for jointly promoting the green and sustainable development of Indonesia's alumina industry.

On April 22, the "Weiqiao-Luxeed Automotive Lightweighting Joint Laboratory" was officially inaugurated in Suzhou. Co-founded by Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group and Luxeed Automotive, the laboratory marks a new phase in the strategic cooperation between the two parties and represents a further step forward in Weiqiao, the "aluminum giant,"'s layout in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector. According to the plan, with the joint R&D efforts of both parties, the proportion of aluminum materials in the auto body of the next-generation products will increase to 50%, the weight of the body in white will decrease by 15%, the torsional stiffness of the auto body will improve by 11%, and the driving range will increase by 10%. Meanwhile, the vehicle-use cast aluminum alloy, jointly developed by both parties, will be applied to the chassis parts of the next-generation products. Compared with the existing aluminum alloy, the fatigue strength will increase by 20%, the weight will decrease by 15%, and carbon emissions will reduce by 20%.

On April 22, the "Weiqiao-Luxeed Automotive Lightweighting Joint Laboratory" was officially inaugurated in Suzhou. Co-founded by Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group and Luxeed Automotive, the laboratory marks a new phase in the strategic cooperation between the two parties and represents a further step forward in Weiqiao, the "aluminum giant," expanding its presence in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector. According to the plan, with the joint R&D efforts of both parties, the proportion of aluminum materials in the auto body of the next-generation products will increase to 50%, the weight of the body in white will be reduced by 15%, the torsional stiffness of the auto body will be improved by 11%, and the driving range will be extended by 10%. Meanwhile, the vehicle-use cast aluminum alloy, jointly developed by both parties, will be applied to the chassis parts of the next-generation products. Compared with the existing aluminum alloy, the fatigue strength will be increased by 20%, the weight will be reduced by 15%, and carbon emissions will be decreased by 20%.

The signing ceremony for the strategic cooperation between Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group and Itochu Corporation of Japan was held at the Qingdao Shanggang Hyatt Regency Hotel. In attendance and delivering speeches at the signing ceremony were Song Yongxiang, Secretary of the Binzhou Municipal Party Committee, Zhang Bo, Chairman of Weiqiao Pioneering Group, and Atsushi Inomata, Executive Director of Itochu Corporation and President of Itochu Metals. Zhang Bo said that the two sides have a history of cooperation spanning over 20 years and are poised to carry out all-round cooperation in areas such as the metals sector. He expressed the hope that through comprehensive cooperation, both sides can find more points of convergence for mutual benefit and contribute to the long-term development of both companies. Atsushi Inomata introduced that Itochu Corporation has been recognized by China as a Sino-Japanese friendly trading company and is the first large trading company to be approved for sustained development in China. With over 20 years of cooperation between the two sides, they hope to expand cooperation in areas such as non-ferrous metals, automotive lightweight materials, and technology development. He expressed gratitude to the Binzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government for their support and looked forward to achieving fruitful results in their cooperation. (Weiqiao Pioneering Group)

China is the highest alumina producer, contributing around 58 per cent of the world’s output.

SHANGHAI, Jul 4 (SMM) – The transfer of a 241,000 mt aluminium smelting capacity to Yunnan Hongtai was announced, with Shandong Weiqiao Aluminium & Electricity withdrawing 241,000 mt last month.

SHANGHAI, Mar 8 (SMM) - Shandong Weiqiao Group cut its March prebaked anode benchmark purchase prices by 25 yuan/mt or 0.42% MoM to 5,895 yuan/mt, dragging down prebaked anode prices in the spot market last week.