The Trends of Aluminium Production in the World and Forecasts

Aluminum is the metal of future. This is where all metal experts agree when evaluating the future of metals. Being widely used in different many sectors, many new industries use aluminum alloys each year. This factor makes it very attractive for aluminum manufacturers and other metallurgy companies. However, last few years have been very tough time for aluminum companies. The world crisis and its effects resulted in a bankruptcy for many producers. Some of them sold their shares, some continued working with losses or reduced the production volume and some companies stopped their production for unknown time. The prices of primary aluminum and semi-finished aluminum products are calculated based on daily LME price of aluminum. Starting from August 2010, LME prices started to get stabilized and stayed stable until November, 2011. The decline in aluminum prices made it non-profitable for many producers, so most of them currently have to continue production without profits. International organizations and banks predict an increase in the price. As some of previous predictions by international organizations were not real, many producers make planning based on low LME. However, the general thinking by most of aluminum companies is that LME will increase from now on to become a fair price for both sellers and buyers. Primary aluminum is aluminum tapped from electrolytic cells or pots during the electrolytic reduction of metallurgical alumina (aluminium oxide). It thus excludes alloying additives and recycled aluminium. Currently, many countries have aluminum smelters to produce primary aluminum. Some of these countries are Brazil, China, Cameroon, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Kazakhstan, India, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Russia, USA, South Africa, Spain, Tajikistan, UAE and others. Unlike primary aluminum production, semi-finished or finished aluminum production requires more professionalism and technology. That is why the number of primary aluminum producers are much more than semi-finished or finished aluminum producers. As it requires big investments and modern technology, many companies prefer to produce only primary aluminum.