ALUMINUM producers in China are set to cut at least another 800,000 tons per year of smelting capacity in coming months, according to an official at the industry body that organized a rare meeting of smelters Friday.

The official from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA) said the figure — first mentioned in a note sent by Antaike analysts at the meeting — was the volume by which the 20 firms attending the gathering planned to reduce their capacity. Antaike is the research arm of CNIA.

CNIA called the meeting — held in the Guangxi — was in response to aluminum prices that are near two-year lows amid softening demand in the world’s biggest market for the metal.

Participants at the meeting included top smelters China Hongqiao Group, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco, Xinfa Group, Hangzhou Jinjiang Group and East Hope, Antaike said.

Antaike said smelters have so far closed more than 3.2 million tons of capacity in 2018, about 80 percent of that in the second-half of the year amid the price slump.

The latest round of cuts brings the amount shuttered to about 9 percent of China’s total aluminum production capacity, brokerage Marex Spectron said Friday.

Companies at the meeting said operating pressure on smelters was “reaching the extreme limit” and was even worse than in the fourth quarter of 2015, Antaike said.

Three years ago, with aluminum prices tanking to around 10,000 yuan (US$1,449) a ton, smelters gathered for a similar meeting and decided to cut 500,000 tons of capacity by the end of 2015.(SD-Agencies)