Market and product

MANAMA: The worldwide demand for aluminium will outstrip production by 2020, a top industry analyst said yesterday.

Dubai-based Gulf Aluminium Council general secretary Mahmood Daylami said the demand and production of the metal is almost equal now but things would change dramatically.

"While now the production is 40 million tonnes, demand is at 39m tonnes," he told the GDN.

"This would significantly change to a demand of 74m tonnes, as opposed to only 60m tonnes being produced by 2020."

Speaking on the sidelines of the 25th International Aluminium Conference at the Gulf Hotel, he said the shortages will have to be addressed by significantly increasing production all over the world.

"There is a lot of work already being done in the area and the Middle East region is on the throes of a major expansion," he said.

"This has to continue for the next 10 years if the world has to go anywhere near the requirement."

Mr Daylami said the Gulf's aluminium industry would also have increased production to around 10m tonnes by 2020, from the present 2.5m tonnes.

"This region is seeing a lot of expansion and more intense competition but there is still a lot of room for more to come in."

Mr Daylami, who was Alba deputy chief executive when he retired a year ago, said there are major efforts to develop synergy between the region's aluminium industry and other industries and to spur economic growth.

"These synergies will contribute to increasing production and reducing costs."

Mr Daylami said Bahrain continues to be a major player in the industry and Alba a major driver of the economy.

"Since 40 per cent of the production in Bahrain is slated for domestic use according to the Economic Vision 2030, there is a planned huge development in the country's $2 billion downstream aluminium industry."

He said over the next 20 years, these downstream industries would play a major role in driving Bahrain's economy.

The conference, on the theme, 'The rocky road to recovery', is being attended by around 600 delegates from all over the world.

It was opened by Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro on Tuesday.

Opening the conference, Dr Fakhro said the GCC nations were now becoming a major player in the international aluminium industry.

He said the world, and more particularly the industrialised nations, had been badly affected by the events of the last couple of years and said the aluminium industry had also been directly affected since metal is used in a wide variety of consumer products - from packaging to automotives, from construction to aerospace.

(Source: www.gulf-daily-news.com)