Middle East region will be the fastest growing in the aluminum market

Investment in the Middle East aluminum industry is expected to surpass $ 55 billion by 2020, nearly double the $ 30 billion in 2011. The fact is that this region is not only a leading producer of metal, but one of the best consumers of this metal.

The emergence of new additional smelting facilities is driving unprecedented growth in the industry. Aluminum production in the region is expected to reach 5 million tonnes by 2015, while total production in the region in 2011 and 2012 was 3.49 million tonnes and 3.74 million tonnes, respectively. The aluminum industry in the Middle East region is growing at 8.4 percent per annum, according to a study by Harbor. This is significantly higher than the global growth rate of 3.5 percent.

The development of the aluminum industry in the region is especially relevant against the backdrop of the fact that analysts and investment banks predict the beginning of a period of deficit in the global aluminum market since 2006. A sharp decline in production capacity and an increase in demand from the auto industry are now cited as the key drivers of the deficit.

Sumitomo Corp experts believe that global aluminum consumption is expected to exceed supply by 61 thousand tons already in 2014, despite the fact that in 2013 the supply of the metal was in surplus of 580 thousand tons. The trading house also predicts that the deficit will increase in 2015 to 493 thousand tons. At the same time, Citigroup Inc predicts a global surplus of the aluminum market even before 2016.