sept 3 (reuters) - the largest u.s. aluminium maker, alcoa inc (aa.n) cut its forecast decline in global consumption of the metal this year to 5.5 percent, from 7 percent earlier, chief executive klaus kleinfeld told news agency bloomberg.

kleinfeld, citing china's stimulus spending, said the country's demand for the lightweight material would rise 8 percent in the second half from a year earlier, with full-year consumption up 4 percent, against the firm's earlier expectation of no growth in 2009.

"china is back," kleinfeld said, adding that the country, the world's biggest aluminium consumer and producer, "had a lot of shovel-ready projects" for 2011, now being started by the government in response to the global economic slowdown.