Product sales increased by 9.3% year-on-year. Southwest Aluminum achieves a "good start" in the first quarter of this year.

On April 2, a reporter learned from Southwest Aluminum that in the first quarter of this year, the company’s sales volume of aluminum rolled products increased by 9.3% year over year, reaching a record high. At the same time, the output of products serving national strategic priorities grew by 3% year over year, and multiple operating indicators achieved a “strong start” in the first quarter.

“Since this year began, the company has clearly defined its main thrust, transforming macro-level strategy into specific, executable, quantifiable, and assessable action plans to ensure that strategic intent is carried through end to end and takes root in implementation.” Li Xiang, Chairman of Southwest Aluminum, said, “Accurate strategic deployment + efficient execution on the ground” is the “key” to Southwest Aluminum’s “strong start” in the first quarter.

Stepping into the cold-rolling manufacturing center of Southwest Aluminum’s sheet and strip company, the machines roar and run constantly. The staff are busy and well organized, and coil after coil of bright, flat-finished aluminum rolls complete rolling in succession, then are hoisted to the next process. The entire production process is tight, efficient, and orderly.

“Currently, we are closely seizing the opportunity of the recovery in orders, planning and arranging ahead of time, and making reasonable allocations of all kinds of resources such as manpower and materials. We are doing everything possible to ensure that the production lines run at full capacity efficiently.” Wu Lei, Deputy Manager of the Manufacturing Department of Southwest Aluminum’s sheet and strip company, said that since this year began, the company has gone deep to tap production potential internally, strengthened overall coordination across all links to improve production efficiency. Externally, it has revitalized high-quality resources, advanced capacity reallocation with precision, and achieved steady growth in output.

▲ In the first quarter, Southwest Aluminum’s production lines were running at full “power” (courtesy of the company)

In the first quarter, construction of key projects at Southwest Aluminum was also advanced in parallel. These include projects on the circular economy, special bearing components, and the expansion of medium and thick plate capacity, all of which have been completed and put into operation. Projects for wide-sheet and strip and major extrusion were progressing at full speed. After these projects reach production and deliver results, they will further enhance core production capacity.

Technological innovation is the core driving force behind the company’s high-quality development, and new products are a powerful engine for unlocking market growth. In the first quarter, Southwest Aluminum’s bundled lineup of high-end new products achieved successive technological breakthroughs.

For example, in the field of automotive materials, the automobile sheet materials produced by Southwest Aluminum passed certification by a certain automaker in China’s East China region and entered that company’s supplier supply chain. At the same time, they passed certification under IRIS’s international railway industry quality management system, earning a “pass” for the international rail transit supply chain, further broadening the application areas of the company’s high-end products in international markets.