China Guanlu restarts 40,000 T of aluminium capacity

SHANGHAI Nov 3 (Reuters) - China's Shanxi Guanlu 000831.SZ said on Tuesday it had restarted an 40,000 tonne aluminium production line, as the market improves and aluminium prices rise.

The company shut down the production line, which accounts for 36.4 percent of its total production capacity, in January when the aluminium market was hit by the international financial crisis.

The company has 110,000 tonnes of primary aluminium capacity.

The restarted production line is expected to produce 7,300 tonnes of aluminium in 2009, the company said in a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Three-month aluminium futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange MAL3 have risen 25 percent so far this year, but still lag a strong rally in copper that doubled prices. (Reporting by Rujun Shen and Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)