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AZ China, a leading consulting company on the Chinese aluminium raw materials sector, today announced its line-up of keynote speakers for the 4th International Aluminium and Carbon Conference, to be held from 5-7 May, at the Sofitel Hotel, Beijing. Following the extraordinary success of the 2012 Qingdao conference, speakers at the 2014 conference will discuss the enduring focus on China by the aluminium industry and debate China’s direction in the coming five years.
The distinguished line-up of speakers includes:
• Dr Geoff Raby, the former Australian Ambassador to China;
• Anne Stevenson-Yang, author, researcher and long-time China resident;
• Tom Orlik, economist, author and member of Bloomberg’s Beijing team;
• Ron Knapp, Secretary General, International Aluminium Institute;
• Gerry Sweeney, President and CEO, Rain CII Carbon;
• Paul Williams, Aluminium Business Manager, CRU;
• Sijin Cheng, VP, Barclays Bank;
• Liu Jianping, Deputy General Manager, Qingxin Carbon;
• Dong Chunming, President, Sunlight Metals Consulting;
• Dr Barry Sadler, Managing Director, Net Carbon Consulting;
• Stuart Ehrenreich, Managing Director, Cascade Resources & Consulting;
• Tony Botelho, Commercial Director, Sinoway Carbon;
• Bob Wombles, Vice President, Koppers;
• Yang Cao, Research Analyst, Metal Bulletin;
• Jim Lennon, Senior Consultant, Macquarie Bank.
With the theme for 2014 being “2020 Vision: Aluminium Outlook” an in depth look at the enduring focus of the aluminium industry on China speakers will discuss the significant benefits and challenges posed by China’s forecast increase of primary aluminium capacity to around 60 million tonnes, as compared with 30 million tonnes by the rest of the world. Given the unprecedented pace of China’s Northwest’s expansion of capacity, the conference will reflect on the ensuing struggle by the rest of the world to find new stranded energy sources to support additional smelting capacity.
This year’s keynotes will hone in on the challenges posed by China’s future aluminium capacity, where:
• China will need 84 million megawatts of electricity, in a country where electricity is scarce;
• the world will need close to 400 million tonnes of bauxite, refined into almost 200 million tonnes of alumina;
• China will need about 25 million tonnes of anodes, which in turn will need more than 30 million tonnes of petroleum coke - not just any petcoke that of a suitable grade to make into anodes; and
• the aluminium industry will experience an unprecedented demand for Cathodes, aluminium fluoride and other inputs to the production process.
Nor will speakers’ topics be limited to questions of supply of raw materials. A broad diversity of perspectives will be presented on the technological breakthroughs demanded by sustainable smelting processes. Speakers will debate the future of an industry at a crossroads, contending with the pressures of amplitudes exceeding 600kA, the long-awaited arrival of inert anodes, and the ever-increasing number of carbon and greenhouse gas emission controls, regulations and taxes.
As attendees will learn, it is remiss to be simply up with the latest trends in technology, processes and markets. To really succeed in tomorrow’s world, you need to have the answers to these questions and the solutions to the challenges before it’s too late.
About AZ China’s International Aluminium and Carbon Conference
AZ China (conference.az-china.com) holds a conference every two years. When asked why not every year, AZ China’s managing director, Paul Adkins said,“We believe that the event is too important to hold annually. We want to look at the big picture, the long term view, and consider the overall direction of the industry and the market. This includes looking at technology, standards of excellence, global balances and so on. We believe in the value of a high quality event, meticulously planned, and one which will allow you the attendees to plan for well ahead."
The event is sponsored by RainCII, Koppers, Bathco, Qingxin Carbon, Aminco Anodes, DQ Carbon, Sinoway Petro, the International Aluminium Association, Metal Bulletin, Fastmarkets, AlCircle, SMM, SCI99 and Albiz.
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andrew[.]az-china.com 
