Aluminum prices may be above USD 3000 in 2011

Friday,25Feb2011

the USD 3,000 per tonne level by the end of the year 2011 as supplies tighten and demand recovers from its second worst downturn on record.

Demand is enormous, consumers are wealthy, and profitability is obvious, it seems a lot of companies should be rushing to enter the aluminum sector yet the situation is not as simple as it may seem.

Growing demand for the lightweight metal is fuelled largely by the booming Chinese economy which already consumes a quarter of the world’s aluminum production.

Aluminum represents the second largest metals market in the world. Aluminum production is highest in Asia that is 24 percent of world production. China is the world's one of the largest producer and consumer of the metal used widely in transport, construction and packaging.

Based on Aluminum Association surveys, US primary aluminum production totaled 1,727,258 metric tonnes in 2010, a rise of 91 tonnes over the 2009 total of 1,727,167 tonnes. On LME registered warehouses, total Aluminum deposits are currently at 4.6 million tonnes.