Aluminum ingots are piled up at a bonded storage area at the Dagang Terminal of Qingdao Port, in Qingdao, Shandong province June 7, 2014. REUTERS/Fayen Wong/File Photo

(Reuters) - The Obama administration is expected to launch on Thursday a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization against China over subsidies Beijing provides to the country’s aluminum industry, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The complaint is expected to accuse China of granting cheap loans from state-run banks to its aluminum producers, helping companies to enhance their production, the newspaper reported, citing sources.

China also subsidizes aluminum production by providing cheaper coal and electricity to producers, the sources said, according to the newspaper.

Neither the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., nor the U.S. Trade Department were immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.