Aluminum: A Global Strategic Business Report

　　The worldwide aluminum market is expected to reach 52 million tons by the year 2015. Factors for this growth will include enhanced consumption from China and India, and the rising use of the metal in the automotive and packaging sectors.

　　The economic recession severely impacted the world aluminum market as metal prices fell drastically amid weakened demand from construction, aviation and car industry. The phenomenon resulted in erosion of profits for manufacturers leading to the shutdown of several smelters along with suspension of investments, across the globe. The US and the West European markets also experienced reduced demand in downstream industries. The global financial crisis not only affected the supply of aluminum, players in the industry were also forced to shift production to locations that offered lower operational costs. In coming years, smelters from Europe and the US are expected to face tremendous competition due to mass production and cheap supply from aluminum producers in China and the Middle East. The industry is also experiencing increasing aluminum production in GCC countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE. The Middle East region benefits from advantages such as rich bauxite reserves as well as economical energy that are expected to help the country in developing upstream activities. Besides this, the GCC region is in close proximity to the European countries, which enables smelter operators to reduce costs.

　　According to Global Industry Analysts, Asia-Pacific, driven by ever increasing Chinese consumption represents the largest and fastest growing market for aluminum. In the United States, the pace of recovery in the aluminum market is expected to be slow and gradual. Currently demand is picking up, albeit at a slower pace with major portion of the demand stemming from automobile and aerospace sectors. Among the

　　product categories, rolled extruded products represents the largest segment. Bars, rods, angles, & shapes comprise the fastest growing segment within the product category.

　　Over the past two decades, aluminum has gained market share in car production challenging the dominance of steel and iron. Aluminum use in vehicles is increasing rapidly due to benefits such as lightweight, corrosion-free, and high-density features. Aluminum is also gaining importance in the packaging industry due to strong, lightweight and recyclable nature. The packaging industry in the US is a major end user of the aluminum due to widespread uses such as household foils, industrial foils, beverage cans and food containers. Recycled aluminum is expected to register higher growth rate than prime metal driven by higher recycling rates and increase in existing metal base. As a consequence, competition in scrap markets is likely to remain intense.

　　The global aluminum industry has been witnessing a dramatic shift in the recent past due to consolidation among players. Select players profiled in the report include Alcoa, Alumínio Brasileiro S/A, Aluminium Bahrain, Aluminum Corporation of China (CHINALCO), BHP Billiton, Ball Corporation, Century Aluminum Company, Hindalco Industries, Rio Tinto Alcan, Vedanta Resources Plc, United Company RUSAL, Hydro Aluminium AS, among others.

　　The research report titled Aluminum: A Global Strategic Business Report by Global Industry Analysts provides a strategic review of the Aluminum industry, key market trends, recent product launches, strategic corporate initiatives, and profiles of key market participants. The report provides annual sales estimates and projections for Aluminum market for the years 2007 through 2015, and 2001 to 2006 by the following geographic markets - US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and rest of World markets. Key segments and sub-segments analyzed include Rolled Extruded Products (Bars, Rods, Angles, & Shapes; and Wires), Flat Surfaced Extruded Products, and Tubes and Pipes.