China’s secondary aluminium industry is the largest in the world. It is also the most misunderstood. From the outside, it looks like a story of unstoppable growth. From the inside, it is a story of structural contradiction — rapid capacity expansion colliding with a feedstock system that cannot keep pace.
I have worked with aluminium melting furnaces in China for 25 years. I have watched the recycling sector evolve from small, scattered workshops into a strategic pillar of the national aluminium supply chain. Here is what the data actually says, and what it means for foundries, recyclers, and equipment buyers.
The Scale: China Produced 11.6 Million Tonnes in 2025
China’s recycled aluminium output reached 11.6 million tonnes in 2025, up 10% year-on-year. That represents 26.5% of global secondary aluminium production, keeping China firmly in first place. The share of secondary aluminium in China’s total aluminium supply has now crossed 25%, a threshold that signals its transition from supplementary source to structural pillar。
| Metric | 2025 Figure |
|---|---|
| China recycled aluminium output | 11.6 million tonnes |
| Global share | 26.5% |
| Share of China’s total aluminium supply | >25% |
| Domestic scrap recovery | 9.75 million tonnes |
| Imports of recycled aluminium raw material | 2.02 million tonnes |
Domestic recovery now supplies 84% of feedstock, a remarkable shift from the import-dependent model of the previous decade. The “Two New” policy — a national initiative to upgrade equipment and consumer goods — has accelerated the flow of end-of-life aluminium into the recycling stream.
The Policy Engine Is Running at Full Speed
Beijing has made secondary aluminium a strategic priority. The Aluminium Industry High-Quality Development Implementation Plan (2025–2027) , issued by ten government ministries, sets a target of 15 million tonnes of recycled aluminium output by 2027 and calls for the establishment of standardised recycling bases and “internet plus resource recovery” models.
The Action Plan for Promoting the Application of Recycled Materials pushes automotive, electronics, and battery manufacturers to increase their use of recycled aluminium. The non-ferrous metals industry stable growth plan explicitly supports the import of qualified recycled aluminium raw materials. Import tariffs on recycled aluminium raw materials were reduced to zero as of January 2025.-
On the import side, pilot programmes in Sichuan Guangyuan and Chongqing Yongchuan have streamlined customs clearance. The Guangyuan pilot alone is projected to reduce import costs by approximately 400 yuan per tonne through savings on demurrage, customs clearance, and port fees.-
Technology: The Gap Between Best and Average Is Enormous
The leading Chinese recyclers are achieving performance that matches or exceeds European benchmarks. Double-chamber melting furnaces at facilities such as Zunyi Aluminium are melting scrap at over 900°C with metal loss rates of just 0.05% (万分之五), compared to 0.1% or higher for conventional furnaces. Melting time is approximately 2.5 hours.-
The energy story is equally compelling. Secondary aluminium production consumes only 3–5% of the energy required for primary aluminium, saving approximately 3.4 tonnes of standard coal and 14 tonnes of water per tonne of alloy produced. Carbon emissions are 95% lower than primary production.-
But these figures represent the best operators. The industry average is far behind. Many small and medium recyclers still run single-chamber furnaces with poor combustion control, high oxidation loss, and inconsistent temperature. The gap between the top 10% and the rest is where the real opportunity lies — and where the real risk sits for buyers who cannot distinguish between them.
The Structural Contradiction: Capacity Is Booming, Feedstock Is Not
This is the central tension in China’s recycling industry, and it is intensifying.
Between 2022 and 2024, secondary aluminium capacity grew at a compound annual rate of 11.8%. In 2025 alone, new capacity approved, under construction, or commissioned totalled 5.385 million tonnes. The result: industry capacity utilisation is below 50%. The feedstock gap in 2025 was approximately 1.7 million tonnes.
The numbers tell a simple story. China has built far more recycling capacity than it can feed. Scrap prices remain high. Profit margins are compressed. Some alloy ingot producers are operating at a loss.-
I have seen this pattern before in other industrial sectors. Capacity chases policy incentives. Policy incentives are designed to encourage investment. But they do not create scrap. Scrap comes from end-of-life products, and the “urban mine” — while vast — takes time to develop.
The Quality Problem Nobody Talks About
The most serious weakness in China’s recycling industry is not capacity or feedstock. It is product mix.
China’s secondary aluminium output is overwhelmingly casting alloys. The ratio of casting to wrought alloys is approximately 6:4. Within casting alloys, ADC12 alone accounts for over 75% of production. Much of this material flows into low-end applications: small appliances, sports equipment, non-structural components.
Meanwhile, high-end applications — aerospace, medical devices, precision components, low-altitude aircraft, defence — are starved of recycled wrought aluminium. Vast quantities of high-quality scrap are being downcycled into low-grade castings instead of being preserved for demanding applications. The number of Chinese recyclers with genuine closed-loop, grade-preserving capability is small.
This is the structural problem that policy cannot solve overnight. It requires investment in sorting technology, alloy separation, and melt quality control. It requires a shift in mindset from volume to value.
What This Means for Equipment Buyers
If you are buying a melting furnace for a recycling application, the Chinese market offers both opportunity and risk.
The opportunity is real. Top-tier Chinese furnace manufacturers now produce equipment that matches European efficiency at 20–40% lower cost. Lead times are shorter. Customisation is more flexible. The technology — double-chamber designs, regenerative burners, automated charging — is proven.
The risk is also real. The market is flooded with suppliers who cannot provide local service, spare parts, or technical support. A furnace that performs well in a Jiangsu workshop may fail in Indonesia if no one can service it.
The questions I always ask before recommending a Chinese supplier for a recycling project:
Does the furnace design handle contaminated scrap? Recycling feedstock is not clean ingot.
What is the guaranteed metal recovery rate? Not the brochure figure. The contract figure.
How does the supplier manage salt flux consumption? Rotary furnaces in particular.
Can the supplier provide a reference site processing similar scrap in your region?
What is the lead time for critical spare parts — burner nozzles, thermocouples, refractory?
A supplier who answers these clearly is worth talking to. One who deflects is not.
The Outlook: Growth Will Continue, But the Shape Will Change
The policy targets are ambitious. Recycled aluminium output is projected to reach 15 million tonnes by 2027 and over 18 million tonnes by 2030, with China’s global share rising to 35%.-1
But the growth will not be evenly distributed. The small, scattered operators who cannot meet environmental standards or secure consistent feedstock will be squeezed out. The large, vertically integrated players — those with their own scrap collection networks, advanced sorting capability, and high-efficiency melting furnaces — will consolidate market share.
For equipment suppliers, this means the market is shifting from “anyone who needs a furnace” to “operators who need reliable, efficient furnaces and can pay for them.” That is a better market for serious suppliers, and a more dangerous one for traders.
A Real Case from Guangdong
In 2023, I visited a recycling plant in Guangdong that had just installed a new twin-chamber furnace. The plant manager had previously run rotary furnaces and was sceptical about the change.
We monitored the first three months of operation. Metal recovery improved from 82% to 91%. Salt flux consumption dropped by 35%. Energy consumption per tonne fell from 780 kWh to 620 kWh.
The furnace cost 40% more than the rotary alternative. The payback period was 14 months.
That is the arithmetic of modern recycling in China. The question is not whether you can afford a better furnace. It is whether you can afford to keep running an old one.
Internal links: Aluminium Melting Furnace Buying Guide 2026, How Chinese Furnace Manufacturers Are Competing in Global Markets
About the Author: Hu Shenyue is a veteran aluminium melting furnace expert with 25 years of hands-on experience in China, Southeast Asia, India, the UK, and Europe. He writes practical, experience-based content on furnace selection, maintenance, and optimisation at SmeltPro.
