US aluminum giant Alcoa Inc is in talks to buy its first smelter in China, marking a rare foreign incursion into the world's biggest aluminum sector as hopes fade for its joint venture with Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco), the top Chinese producer of the metal.

The move suggests Alcoa is determined to build a market position in China's aluminum smelting sector.

Talks to buy into and expand the smelter in Panzhihua in southwestern Sichuan province moved forward when senior Alcoa executives visited last week. Alcoa had first approached the parent of Ming Zhu Aluminium to buy the smelter in 2003.

"The talks have entered into detail," an executive at the Ming Zhu smelter in Panzhihua said, without elaborating on the price or timing of a final deal.

Alcoa would invest in a hydropower plant and expand the capacity of the smelter to 200,000-300,000 tons in an investment that would cost well over 1 billion yuan ($146.6 million).