World demand for aluminum to reach 82.5 million metric tons in 2017
World demand for aluminum (primary and secondary/recycled) is projected to expand 5.8 percent per year through 2017 to 82.5 million metric tons. Of the 20 million additional metric tons of demand in 2017, nearly 11.5 million metric tons will be accounted for by China. The country is also a significant aluminum producer and ran a trade surplus of 700,000 metric tons in 2012. In fact, China’s trade surplus and an associated global supply glut were largely to blame for a significant drop in global aluminum prices in 2012. These and other trends are presented in World Aluminum, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc. (freedoniagroup.com), a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.
Due primarily to the massive market in China, construction will remain the largest market for aluminum, with gains benefiting from a recovery in the housing sectors of a number of developed nations as well as rapid increases in construction spending in the developing world as a result of strong economic growth and urbanization. If excluding China, the motor vehicle market is the world’s largest user of aluminum. In most countries, motor vehicles account for a greater share of aluminum use than construction applications.