Rio forecasts new aluminum capacity will be needed outside China

Aluminum producers will need to build additional smelting capacity outside of China as inventories run down in the coming two to three years, according to Rio Tinto Group.

“We see aluminum demand growth being extremely healthy,” Alf Barrios, Rio’s aluminum chief executive officer, said in an interview. “People believed China was going to be a significant net exporter to the rest of the world in the future, I think people now see China being more balanced.”