China is expected to consume 6.78 million tons of aluminium this year, overtaking the United States to become the world's No. 1 consumer of aluminium, according to a report in Tuesday's China Securities Journal.

Pan Jiazhu, secretary-general of the China Nonferrous Metal Processing Industry Association, predicted China's demand for aluminium would grow at an average annual rate of 7.2 percent before 2010.

But still China is now the world's No. 1 aluminium exporter. Last year, the global aluminium output came to nearly 30 million tons, with China's production making up 22.3 percent of the total.

Source: Xinhua