SINGAPORE Nov 18 （Reuters） - Aluminium prices will rise over the next decade as a scarcity of high-quality mines and sites for new smelters constricts supply in the face of surging global demand, a top Alcoa （AA.N: Quote） official told the Financial Times.
"The demand is going to be there, because the things driving demand are very hard to stop," the paper on Friday quoted Klaus Kleinfeld, chief executive of the world's largest producer of the metal prized for its lightness and recyclability, as saying.
"The real question is whether there will be enough projects to meet that demand."
Even with slower demand in China, which makes up roughly 40 percent of world aluminium demand, Alcoa believes global demand can grow 6.5 percent per year over the next decade, doubling total use by 2020.
Aluminium prices CMAL3 are down 5 percent this week at $2,303, or roughly 30 percent off their July 2008 high, hit by concerns over monetary tightening in China, a huge overhang of stocks and substantial unused production capacity.
Additional new capacity is set to come on stream in Asia and the Middle East, but the balance of supply and demand would eventually shift in favour of producers, Kleinfeld said.
"The constraint will not be capital -- the money will be there -- but the availability of these high-quality assets."
While supply has easily kept pace with demand until now, that may not be the case in the future as the metal finds greater use in industries from aerospace to autos and consumer electronics.
"The world will need every single one of those new plants that are coming onstream over the next few years," Kleinfeld added. （Writing by Clarence Fernandez; Editing by Nicholas Trevethan）
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