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Seventeen Chinese electrolysis aluminum producers each cut their output capacity by 10 percent, or a total of 335,000 tons, by Jan. 10, in a bid to cool soaring prices of alumina.

The move came in line with an agreement reached by 23 big Chinese electrolysis aluminum producers in Beijing on Dec. 1, 2005, said an official with the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.

Currently, the price of aluminum has reached a record 2,320 U.S. dollars per ton in the international market, the highest in 17 years, said Wen Xianjun, vice head of the Association's coordination department.

In China, the price stood at 19,000 yuan (2,375 dollars) per ton.

He said the 23 firms may further reduce their production by additional 380,000 tons later.

These 23 firms have a combined electrolysis aluminum production capacity of 6 million tons, accounting for 55 percent of the country's total.

Their output cut action is expected to exert a great impact on the domestic and international aluminum oxide and electrolysis aluminum markets.

China is estimated to produce 9.5 million tons of aluminum oxide in 2006, a rise of 11.8 percent from 2005.

According to the Association's director Kang Yi, China's aluminium output is forecast to grow to 8.5 million tons this year from last year's estimated 7.8 million tons.

At present, China's aluminum oxide production accounted for 11 percent of the world's total, and that of aluminium, 22.5 percent.

China is now the world's second-largest user of aluminum. Its high-speed economic growth has fueled demand for the metal in construction, cars and home-appliances. Over the past decade, China's consumption of aluminium has grown at an average rate of 15.6 percent.