Aluminium Industry in Full Swing

September 7, 2010 · Filed Under Exhibitions, Markets

Countdown for ALUMINIUM 2010, which is being held from 14-16 September in Essen. Compared with the first six months of the previous year, overall German primary aluminium smelters and semis plants experienced a marked recovery in production in the first half of 2010. Ahead of the ALUMINIUM 2010 trade fair, GDA – Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V. (Association of Aluminium Industry) – Düsseldorf, has announced that German aluminium companies remain optimistic that they will be able to maintain this good level during the second half of 2010.

The improved situation is being driven by the economic recovery in vehicle manufacturing and the manufacture of industrial machinery. The booming solar industry has also helped improve the sector’s capacity utilisation. The German aluminium industry is expecting the sector’s leading exhibition, the ALUMINIUM 2010 trade fair, to further stimulate business.

Nearly all aluminium producers and processors were hard hit by the financial and economic crisis. Smelters, extruders and rollers reported marked falls in production in 2009. The figures for 2009 would probably have been even worse had it not been for the fact that the recovery process began to take place in the second half of 2009. “Sentiment improved significantly in the second half of 2009 after the key markets for the aluminium industry started sending out positive signals again,” says Friedrich Brökelmann, GDA President and Chairman of the GDA Aluminium Semi-Finished Products specialist trade association. The upward trend continued in the first half of 2010. The four German primary aluminium smelters increased their production by 17.9 per cent to 182,900 tonnes (January-June 2009: 155,100 tonnes) and together the 34 aluminium semis producers increased production by 30.3 per cent from January to June 2010 to 1,232,200 tonnes (January-June 2009: 946,000 tonnes).

Production of Rolled Products at Good Level

The major share of aluminium semis production is attributable to the aluminium rolling mills. They increased production by 28.6 per cent to 946,500 tonnes in the first half of 2010 (January-June 2009: 736,000 tonnes). “The good demand for rolled aluminium products at the moment is also being driven by the economic recovery in vehicle manufacturing and the manufacture of industrial machinery. Orders received have recovered significantly since their lowest level at the beginning of 2009,” says Oliver Bell. He is Deputy Chairman of the GDA Aluminium Semi-Finished Products specialist trade association and Executive Vice President Rolled Products at Norsk Hydro ASA. The largest markets for rolled aluminium semis are packaging, transport and technical applications (mechanical and electrical engineering), which together account for almost three-quarters of the demand for rolled aluminium products. The rest goes into the building and construction industry, stockists and other end uses. “The rolled aluminium semis producers remain optimistic that they will be able to maintain this good level in the second half of 2010,” adds Oliver Bell, “because important industrial customers, such as packaging and vehicle manufacturing, are expecting good sector development in 2010”.

Business Activity in Extrusion Sector Running Smoothly Again

German extruders were also satisfied with the first half of 2010. In percentage terms, the producers of extruded and drawn products achieved an even greater increase than the producers of rolled aluminium semis, but they also suffered a greater slump in 2009. From January to June 2010, their production rose by 36.3 per cent to 283,800 tonnes (January-June 2009: 208,300 tonnes). The most important markets for profiles are in the building sector, the transport sector, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. “With the extruders, the good economic situation is mainly attributable to the high demand from the automotive sector, mechanical engineering and the solar industry. The building industry has also improved slightly,” says Friedrich Brökelmann. “For the whole of 2010, German extrusion companies are expecting business to stabilise in quantitative terms at the level of the first six months, which was stimulated mainly by markets such as mechanical and plant engineering, solar technology and vehicle manufacturing.”

ALUMINIUM 2010: Leading Fair of the Sector

The German aluminium industry is expecting the ALUMINIUM trade fair (14-16 September 2010 in Essen) to provide an added boost to recovery. “The ALUMINIUM fair is the leading event for the sector and, since it was held for the first time 13 years ago, it has developed into the major platform for our industry worldwide,” says GDA Managing Director Christian Wellner. “In addition, it offers the German aluminium industry the opportunity to present its capabilities to its clients, in particular with respect to innovation and competitiveness.” Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie is co-initiator and conceptual partner of the ALUMINIUM trade fair.

“The ALUMINIUM fairs are among the most successful industrial fairs to have been introduced worldwide since the end of the 1990s,” says Hans-Joachim Erbel, Managing Director of Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH, the organiser of the event. An important benefit for the ALUMINIUM fair is that the aluminium sector in Germany covers the whole spectrum of production and processing of aluminium. “Without this backbone in manufacturing it would not have been possible to establish the ALUMINIUM fair and turn it into the No. 1 for the sector worldwide,” adds Hans-Joachim Erbel. The whole of the light metal’s value chain is now on show at the ALUMINIUM fair, from the production of the metal via semis production through to end uses in the automotive, building, mechanical and electrical engineering markets, and including the suppliers of goods and services to the sector.

(figure: impressions from ALUMINIUM 2008, photo: Reed Exhibitions Deutschland)