Aluminum gives hope for the resumption of closed facilities

Average daily aluminum production outside of China dropped to 66,200 tons, according to a study by the International Aluminum Institute. Even with an aluminum production growth rate of over 23 percent in the Gulf region, the shutdown and closure of aluminum smelters around the world have negatively impacted aluminum production, which has dipped lower than anticipated in early January.

Since the beginning of 2012, aluminum production outside China has dropped to 1.61 million tonnes due to the collective closures of western aluminum miners and factories associated with lower aluminum prices.

In any case, further chances of a decline in aluminum production are slowly starting to fade. The motivation to cut production is also disappearing. In addition, there is information about the resumption of work of European plants, in particular, the aluminum plant Adelel, which is located in the Netherlands. It was hoped that the opening of the plant could boost overall aluminum production.

Now South America is the only region where growth in aluminum production is not yet expected. Here, the decline in production is mainly due to the reduction in aluminum production in Brazil, a country that is sensitive to increased energy costs, as well as the decline in aluminum prices. And the last smelter to announce the termination of operations due to the fall in aluminum prices was the Ouro Preto aluminum smelter.