Ron Knapp

Ron Knapp

Adviser, Office of the Chairman, China Hongqiao Group Limited (HK)

Ron joined China Hongqiao Group in January 2020, following 11 years as Secretary General of the International Aluminium Institute (London). Previous roles include Executive Director of the Australian Aluminium Council (2002 to 2008), Chief Executive of the World Coal Institute London (1997 to 2001) and senior positions with the Minerals Council of Australia (1987 to 1996). Prior to these appointments, Ron was an economist with the Australian Government (1976 to 1987). Ron is an Australian with a small beef cattle farm in Australia.

China Hongqiao Group is one of the largest fully integrated aluminum company in the world with extensive activities along the whole production chain, based on major direct investments and long-term strategic partnerships. Production is dominated by operations in China, combined with key resource developments in Indonesia and Guinea.

China Hongqiao attaches great importance to environmental protection, energy conservation and sustainable development, with clean green production and higher value products as core business goals. China Hongqiao seeks to continuously improve the full industrial chain by building unique aluminum industry clusters. Central to the industrial cluster philosophy is the development of surrounding enterprises and the cities in which the clusters are located.

China Hongqiao is committed to helping achieve China’s carbon peak and carbon neutral goals – and has adopted a roadmap to take positive actions to optimize the energy structure, carry out industrial upgrading, and promote low-carbon transformation of the industry.

Moderator: SESSION: China
Whither the Giant? Where is China with the climate goals? Can China break through to truly low carbon aluminium?

All Sessions by Ron Knapp

7:30 am - 8:20 am

In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060.

  • Where is China with the climate goals?
  • How about the development of solar and wind capacity? What about Nuclear? How does China energy mix look like at the moment?
  • Is China's aluminium industry committed to using alternative energy for its operations?
  • Does it seem like these goals will be met as per the timeline set? What to expect from China during the COP27 Summit?
  • Will China aluminium industry keep growing? What of the 45MT capacity cap?
  • Is China under a threat from lower cost countries? Is it under pressure to meet the international market demand for higher standards?
  • At the top end, big companies and large conglomerates are setting their standards according to the aluminium they consume, but what about the thousands of downstream factories in China? What standards and how much involvement there is at the grass root level?
  • What about the average Chinese citizen, how do they feel about climate change? Is there any awareness about the aluminium industry and its fight against climate change? What is the general attitude with regards to aluminium recycling across the country? What is the average household doing with regards to recycling in general? Are there any facilities available for aluminium recycling? How uniform or accessible is it in the rural versus urban China?
  • What are the merits and disadvantages of China aluminium production?
  • China's new aluminium capacity is based on hydroelectricity, making that metal suitable as a low carbon source. What role does China see for itself in the global green aluminium market?

AZ Global Consulting is the leading consultancy firm in China. We provide a wide range of aluminium reports, conferences and analysis into the whole aluminum market.
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