China's net export of aluminium is expected to reach 660,000 tons this year, but the figure will drop to 300,000 tons in 2006, the Economic Information Daily reported.

Quoting Ding Shenwei, director of the Research Department of China International Finance Corporation, the report also said China would import 500,000 tons of aluminium next year.

Statistics showed in the first eight months of this year, China imported on average 52,000 tons of aluminium each month, a drop of39 percent from 86,000 tons in the same period of 2004.

Source: Xinhua