Had to laugh at this!Now anyone who knows anything about motors, power distribution etc knows that the only substitution for copper is copper.... aluminum just makes poor quality motors, less efficent power distribution, via increased IR losses
Had to laugh at the headline....!
Copper substitution already a fact of life in Chinese manufacturing
By: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: '10-OCT-06 07:00' GMT © Mineweb 1997-2006
RENO, NV (Mineweb.com) --Although Chinese manufacturers remain highly dependent on foreign copper mining supplies, producers have already begun substituting copper in some Chinese-made products.
In a presentation to Chile’s Copper Commission (Cochilco), Li Lan of the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy said that, while infrastructure demand will continually fuel Chinese copper demand, substitution will seriously impact domestic copper consumption.
While Li predicted that copper cathode consumption will increase by 6% in China from 2006 to 2010, the growth rate will fall to 3 to 5% from 2011 to 2015.
In the meantime, Li predicted that “the speed of substitution might surprise [the mining industry],” noting that substitution has already occurred due to high copper prices as steel strip replaces copper for hardware production and valves. He also anticipated that low-copper content alloy will replace high copper content alloy use in connector, lead frame, and commercial automobile radiators.
Li also forecast that the use of scrap copper in semis production will also increase due to improved technology, cost cutting measures, and more copper scrap produced domestically.
The Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (BGRIMM) is a large government institution engaged primarily in mining and metallurgical science, integrating R&D with engineering design and direct production.
In the last decade copper usage for power cables has increased by 13%, prompted by an upgrade program in rural areas, the economic development program in western China, a West-to-east power grid connection program, the industrialization and urbanization of China, and the upcoming Olympic games in 2008. Meanwhile, Li told the mining executives at the Cochilco seminar that copper usage in building wire has increased 14% annually during the same period because of a booming real estate industry, building code upgrades, and renovations and repairs in existing buildings.
Li told the seminar that “China is becoming the world’s largest manufacturer of home electrical appliances.” For instance, Chinese ownership of air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and cell phones has increased substantially in the nation’s urban areas, necessitating the use of more copper.
During the past decade, copper usage for magnet wire production increased by 17% because of increased production of automobiles, power transformers, and electrical appliances.
Copper usage for air conditioners alone accounted for 12% of China’s total copper consumption last year, he added. Chinese-manufactured air conditions already command an 80% share of the world air conditioning market.
However, China is increasingly substituting imported wire rod for domestically manufactured copper wire rod. Li estimated that more than 300 to 400kt of new capacity are under construction in the nation. New wire rod mills have been built by Jiangxi Copper and Walsin. Companies have also relocated their wire rod and ACR tube manufacturing capacity to China, according to Li.
Meanwhile, the copper content in Chinese export production, such as appliances, motors, transformers, and other items manufactured in China, accounted for 20% of total copper and copper alloy demand in the nation, according to Li.