Adoption of aluminum in auto industry yet to pick up

The CEO of the world's largest producer of rolled aluminium, Novelis, explained to investors that sluggish business at the company in the past earnings season was a result of a slower-than-expected adoption of aluminium by the automotive industry.

For decades, high-end vehicles have been made with aluminium. But over the last year the adoption of an aluminium body in the Ford F-150, the best-selling car in America, was supposed to mark the beginning of a once-in-history shift from steel to aluminium for more mainstream vehicles. The aluminium industry is beset by falling prices, and executives have pointed to the use of aluminium by the auto industry as a reason for optimism.

This year was supposed to be the beginning of a new era in body manufacturing. But the story of aluminium adoption by the auto industry hasn't been as revolutionary as many thought. Speaking during a phone call announcing Q2 2016 earnings for Novelis, Steve Fisher, CEO, indicated the adoption of aluminium by the auto industry is happening at a less furious pace than some have expected. Fisher said many expected another of the major OEMs to announce a mainstream car would adopt aluminium, but so far Ford seems to stand alone. The announcement has not come.

"While Ford has gone very aluminium-intensive and been very successful with the F-150 more recently, everyone's going to look at their portfolios of vehicles and take their own views on how quickly they need to move to aluminium,” Fisher was quoted as saying. He went on to suggest that the industry is going through a “digestion period” in the wake of the F-150.

Fisher is not the only one saying as much. Sean Stack, CEO of US aluminium sheet producer Aleris International, said that while Ford has increased usage of aluminium sheet, it is still "too early" to expect additional steel-to-aluminium announcements from other major automakers like Toyota and General Motors.

Ford has indicated plans to convert its F-250s, F-350s and F-450s to an aluminium body structure for 2017. A well-known report from Ducker Worldwide projected a 20-fold escalation in aluminium sheet demand from the automotive industry in the coming decade. Demand was predicted to rise from less than 200 million lbs. in 2012 to nearly 4 billion lbs. by 2025. Novelis had been shifting rolling mill capacity away from beverage sheet production and toward auto body sheet production. But now the Atlanta-based company waits patiently for that next big announcement.