Metal mining companies enter the low-altitude economy: An "aerial materials war" they can't afford to lose
The war of materials has just begun, and the victor will win the right to future development. A materials revolution driven by both policies and the market is accelerating. In 2024, "low - altitude economy" was written into the government work report for the first time. In 2025, the government work report further clarified the goal of "cultivating and strengthening" this emerging industry. The continuous release of policy dividends, combined with the mass - production breakthroughs of terminal products such as eVTOL (electric vertical take - off and landing aircraft) and logistics drones, is pushing aviation - grade materials into a market boom.
At 6 a.m., the melting and casting workshop of a leading mining manufacturing base in Zhuozhou, Hebei, was already ablaze with heat.
A 3 - meter - high furnace was spitting out blue flames, and the molten aluminum was boiling at a high temperature of 900 degrees Celsius. Workers were packing and shipping the silver - shining aviation aluminum ingots.
During a WeChat video call with Director Zhang of the workshop, a reporter from Economic Observer saw a bold red order on his tablet computer, which was particularly eye - catching: "Main beam frame for the EH216 - S aircraft, 7 - series aluminum alloy, to be delivered within 15 days."
Director Zhang said, "This is the 37th order for low - altitude aircraft we've received this year. At this time last year, we were still worried about orders for traditional industrial aluminum products."
Right now, a materials revolution driven by both policies and the market is accelerating. In 2024, "low - altitude economy" was written into the government work report for the first time. In 2025, the government work report further clarified the goal of "cultivating and strengthening" this emerging industry. The continuous release of policy dividends, combined with the mass - production breakthroughs of terminal products such as eVTOL (electric vertical take - off and landing aircraft) and logistics drones, is pushing aviation - grade materials into a market boom. The market opportunity is clear: According to the calculation of the High - tech Industry Research Institute (GGII), the consumption of aluminum materials in the low - altitude economy is expected to exceed 1.25 million tons in 2025, with a market scale of 32 billion yuan and an annual compound growth rate of over 36%.
For metal mining enterprises, this is no longer a strategic choice of "whether to transform", but a survival necessity of "having to transform".
Behind Director Zhang, the production line was running around the clock, but the trucks waiting to pick up the goods had lined up outside the factory area.
Data from the aluminum manufacturing group he works for in February 2025 showed that the quotation of its aviation - grade aluminum ingots had reached 24,200 yuan per ton, a 23% increase compared with the same period in 2023, but the market demand was still surging.
Stimulated by the rapid development of the low - altitude economy and the increasing demand for aviation - grade aluminum ingots, similar scenarios are playing out in metal mining enterprises across the country.
As of October 2025, the production line of 7 - series aluminum alloy thin - wall profiles of Yunhai Metal was operating at full capacity. In the same month, the intelligent factory invested 1.2 billion yuan by Nanshan Aluminum was officially put into operation. Through intelligent transformation, the factory reduced the delivery cycle from 45 days to 18 days. The orders for titanium alloy bars of Baoti Co., Ltd. have been scheduled until the second quarter of 2026.
This materials revolution triggered by the low - altitude economy is prompting traditional metal mining enterprises to carry out a complete self - transformation.
An executive of a central state - owned mining group said bluntly at a corporate strategy meeting, "This is not a choice; it's a matter of survival. If we can't seize the materials opportunity in the low - altitude economy, we may not even be able to maintain our current market share in ten years."
The "Gamble" of Metal Giants
In January 2025, the atmosphere in the meeting room at the headquarters of the above - mentioned central state - owned metal mining group was extremely solemn. The general manager of the group's strategic development department showed two steep curves on the projection screen: one was the continuous slowdown in the demand growth rate of traditional industrial aluminum materials, and the other was the explosive growth in the demand for aviation aluminum materials.
The general manager's voice echoed in the meeting room: "At the latest next year, our production capacity of 7 - series aluminum alloy must be doubled. Otherwise, we will completely lose the ticket to enter the low - altitude economy."
This is not an alarmist statement.
Data shows that logistics drones consume a large amount of 6 - series extruded aluminum profiles, while manned eVTOL mainly uses high - end 7 - series aluminum alloy. With the implementation of the mass - production plans of enterprises such as EHang and Volant Aerotech, their demand for aviation materials is growing geometrically.
Internal games ensued.
At the subsequent enlarged board meeting of the group, opinions from all parties clashed fiercely.
The vice - president in charge of traditional business said bluntly, "Investing 5 billion yuan to expand the production capacity of aviation aluminum materials means cutting back on traditional production lines. Where will we place tens of thousands of workers?"
The vice - president in charge of innovation showed even more severe data: The proportion of aviation business revenue of Yunhai Metal has soared from 7% to 19%, and Nanshan Aluminum has locked in the core orders of enterprises such as EHang for the next three years. If we don't take action, the group will be completely marginalized.
After more than three hours of intense discussion, the board of directors finally reached a consensus: Immediately launch a special plan, invest 5.2 billion yuan to transform three traditional production lines, and increase the production capacity of aviation aluminum materials to 40% of the total production capacity.
This decision means that this central state - owned metal mining enterprise will actively abandon part of the low - end market and bet on high - end aviation materials.
At this time, other leading metal enterprises are also making similar strategic adjustments.
A leading private metal enterprise stopped the expansion of two construction aluminum profile projects and invested all its funds in the joint laboratory of the "Lightweight Alliance" led by the cooperation with the central state - owned enterprise.
The 7B50 aluminum alloy it developed, by adding a trace amount of scandium, reduces the thickness of thin - wall parts from 1.2 mm to 0.8 mm without losing strength, which can reduce the weight of a single logistics drone by eight kilograms.
A private aluminum manufacturing group in the eastern region was even more radical. It directly changed the original "Project of Annual Production of 150,000 Tons of High - end Aluminum Sheets, Strips and Foils for New Energy Vehicles" to the "Intelligent Construction Project of Annual Production of 450,000 Tons of High - end Aluminum Sheets, Strips and Foils for New Energy Vehicles", and the total investment of the project increased from 1.98 billion yuan to 2.62 billion yuan. This decision was approved by a large majority at the group's extraordinary general meeting on March 10, 2025.
Although the project of this private aluminum enterprise is mainly targeted at the new energy vehicle market, the technology and production experience of high - end aluminum sheets, strips and foils for new energy vehicles can indirectly support the development of the low - altitude economy. For example, the lightweight and high - strength characteristics of these materials are also applicable to the manufacturing of low - altitude aircraft. Therefore, although the direct target of the project is the new energy vehicle market, its technology and production capacity improvement also have potential positive impacts on the low - altitude economy.
The chairman of this private aluminum enterprise explained this decision at the general meeting: "Traditional business is today's meal, and the low - altitude economy is tomorrow's bowl."
The Smoke on the Negotiation Table
In June 2025, in the meeting room of a five - star hotel in Shenzhen, the negotiation between Zou Shenbo, the sales director of a metal mining enterprise from Jiangsu, and Zhang Wei, the procurement director of a leading drone enterprise, had lasted for five hours.
This was a price tug - of - war.
Zhang Wei repeated the following figures for the third time: "22,000 yuan per ton. This is our bottom line. You should know that an aluminum enterprise in Hunan quoted us 21,500 yuan."
Zou Shenbo replied, "The thickness of their materials is 1.0 mm, while ours is 0.8 mm. According to the design of your company's latest model, using our materials can reduce the weight of the whole aircraft by 3.5 kilograms and increase the endurance by 12%."
Zhang Wei was silent, and Zou Shenbo added, "You should be better at calculating this account than I am."
The meeting room fell into silence.
Zhang Wei's team began to whisper and conduct internal calculations on the spot.
This was also a contest of technical standards. Because another focus of the negotiation was on technical standards.
The drone enterprise required the materials to pass the double certifications of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the European Aviation Safety Agency, while the enterprise Zou Shenbo works for has only passed the domestic certification so far.
Zou Shenbo showed his trump card and said that he could bear the certification cost, but he needed the drone enterprise on the other side of the negotiation table to promise to purchase no less than 5,000 tons in the next three years.
After another round of tug - of - war, the two sides finally reached an agreement: The enterprise Zou Shenbo works for is responsible for supplying the goods, and the drone enterprise Zhang Wei works for promises to purchase more than 5,000 tons in three years, and they will jointly bear the international certification cost.
During the process of restructuring the supply chain, such games happen every day and are profoundly changing the supply - chain ecosystem.
Take Nanshan Aluminum as an example. The key reason why it can lock in long - term orders from enterprises such as EHang is that it has created a collaborative development model of "materials - design - manufacturing". It not only provides high - end aluminum materials but also participates in the product design stage of its customers.
This model enables Nanshan Aluminum to better capture market demand and provide customized solutions, thus standing out in the fierce market competition.
This kind of in - depth binding is becoming the new industry standard.
Minmetals Group directly joined hands with Gotion High - tech, BYD and other enterprises to establish MCC New Energy, investing more than 4 billion yuan in a project with an annual production capacity of 80,000 tons of high - nickel ternary precursors, and laying out the entire industrial chain from minerals to batteries.
The Lifeline of 0.1 Millimeter
On October 13, in the R & D center of a metal mining enterprise in Nanjing, Jiangsu, senior engineer Zhao Jian was observing an aluminum alloy sample with a thickness of only 0.8 mm under a microscope.
This was already the 43rd time the team had adjusted the material formula.
Zhao Jian said to the team members, "Reducing the weight by 0.1 mm and increasing the strength by 10%. This is our confidence at the negotiation table."
Behind the materials revolution is the strict requirement of low - altitude aircraft for weight, which is driving a revolution in materials technology.
Aviation - grade aluminum materials need to meet multiple requirements such as lightweight, high strength and corrosion resistance at the same time, while traditional industrial aluminum materials can often only meet one or two of them.
The breakthrough of the enterprise Zhao Jian works for comes from the innovative application of scandium. The addition of this rare metal enables the aluminum alloy to maintain excellent mechanical properties in an ultra - thin state. However, the technical difficulty lies in the uniform distribution of scandium and cost control - the price of scandium is thousands of times that of aluminum.
It took his team 18 months to control the addition amount of scandium at the optimal ratio of 0.15%. This 0.15% increased the material cost by 30%, but improved the performance by 50%.
Technical breakthroughs are not only happening in one metal mining enterprise.
The R & D team of another listed metal mining company is tackling the problem of the fatigue life of titanium alloy. The hot - end components of eVTOL engines require titanium alloy to maintain stable performance at a high temperature of 600 degrees Celsius, which is difficult to achieve with traditional processes.
The technical director of this listed company said that through the regulation of the microstructure, the high - temperature resistance of the titanium alloy was increased by 8%, and this improvement enabled the materials it produced to successfully enter the supply chains of three leading eVTOL manufacturers.
Western Superconducting focuses on controlling the purity of aviation titanium alloy bars. The third - generation preparation process it developed reduced the impurity content of the materials from 50 parts per million to less than 20 parts per million. This breakthrough enabled it to pass the re - evaluation of the single - champion enterprise in manufacturing by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The Pains of Transformation
Although the prospects are attractive, the transformation path of metal mining enterprises is not smooth.
One of the barriers is certification.
An executive of a titanium material enterprise said, "What troubles us most is the airworthiness certification. The average certification cycle for new aviation materials takes 24 months, and the cost is often tens of millions of yuan. One of our customers finally chose foreign materials because they couldn't wait for the certification."
There is also a shortage of technical talents.
Zou Shenbo said, "Even with a million - yuan annual salary, we still can't recruit suitable aviation materials engineers. The compound - type talents who understand both metal materials and aviation engineering are too scarce."
According to the prediction in the "Guidelines for the Development Plan of Manufacturing Talents" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by 2025, the shortage in the aerospace equipment field will reach 475,000 people. The demand for talents in the aviation materials field far exceeds the supply, and enterprises have difficulty meeting the demand for senior technical talents.
Transformation also requires huge investment.
The total investment of the enterprise Zou Shenbo works for in the Indonesian project has exceeded 2 billion yuan, and the special plan of the above - mentioned central state - owned metal mining enterprise requires an investment of more than 5 billion yuan. Moreover, it is difficult to see returns from these investments in the short term.
The investment department manager of the above - mentioned central state - owned metal mining enterprise said that the capital market is very enthusiastic about the low - altitude economy, but investors still look at the financial statements. If large - scale profits cannot be achieved within three years, the enterprise's capital chain will be under great pressure.
The investment manager also said that the risk in the supply chain is that some core raw materials still rely on imports. Take scandium as an example. The global production is mainly concentrated in countries such as Russia, China and Norway, and geopolitical factors may lead to unstable supply.
Currently, this central state - owned metal mining enterprise is actively looking for alternative solutions, but it is difficult to completely get rid of import dependence in the short term.
Facing numerous challenges, this enterprise has begun to try to restructure the ecosystem. Everyone, from material suppliers to solution providers, is looking for feasible paths.
The "Joint Laboratory for Lightweight Materials" jointly established by Chinalco and Beihang University has started operating. Here, materials scientists and aviation engineers work together, and material selection and optimization start from the aircraft design stage.
More profound changes are taking place at the industrial level.
The above - mentioned executive of the titanium material enterprise said, "The era of going it alone is over. We need to work together to make the cake bigger."
For this reason, this executive is uniting enterprises in the industry to jointly establish a materials database, share testing resources, and promote the establishment of new industry standards.
In addition to technological restructuring and joining forces, some enterprises are starting to try more radical business models.
Zhao Jian's team has started to cooperate with SF Express. They not only provide drone materials but also participate in the optimal design of logistics routes and share the operation profits. He explained, "This means that our income is no longer limited to material sales but also includes technical services and even operation shares."
Overseas, the layout of several enterprises is also accelerating.
The total investment of Minmetals Group's nickel - cobalt project in Papua New Guinea is as high as 2.041 billion US dollars, which is the largest investment project in nickel - cobalt mines by a Chinese enterprise overseas so far. The nickel - cobalt materials produced by this project will be mainly used for power batteries of low - altitude aircraft.
The enterprise Zou Shenbo works for has directly targeted the global market in its expansion project in Indonesia. He said, "We aim to be the material supplier for the global low - altitude economy."
On the evening of October 15, on the test field of the above - mentioned leading aluminum manufacturing base in Zhuozhou, a drone equipped with a new