The aluminium beverage can sales in Brazil have recorded an impressive 12 per cent year-on-year growth for H1 2024, revealed the Brazilian Association of Aluminium Can Manufacturers (Abralatas). The association, representing the country's aluminium can sector, previously noted that macroeconomic development significantly drove the increase in Brazilian beverage can sales this year.
Following the revelation of this momentous growth, Abralatas expects the year to close with a high-digit sales figure for aluminium beverage cans. Earlier, the association estimated a growth rate of 5 per cent at the year-end, compared to an annual increase of 1.65 per cent last year. However, it is essential to see if the projection remains the same after this double-digit growth in H1.
Production, consumption and more
According to Abralatas, the production rate of aluminium beverage cans in Brazil is 32.6 billion can units per year, while per capita consumption is 165 12-can packages per year, achieved through years-long planning, investments, and efforts. For sure, the advantages of using aluminium cans boosted the consumption of the product, but what essentially propelled the sales growth was the rising Brazilian GDP through H1 2024. According to the data from Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), Brazil's GDP in the June quarter rose 3.3 per cent sequentially, firmly above market expectations of a 2.7 per cent rise, bolstered by an elevated level of government transfers.
Executive president of Abralatas, Cátilo Cândido, said the present growth of aluminium beverage can sales occurred since 2023, after a period of adjustments with the end of the COVID pandemic.
Interestingly, he also noted that beverage cans consumption rose along a wide range of products, such as cachaça, energy drinks, non-alcoholic beer, wines and sparkling wines, as consumers are increasingly motivated to consume drinks ready for consumption. At present, more than 20 types of drinks are packaged in aluminium cans in Brazil. Beer continues to be the flagship, with a 10 per cent growth, while all the soft drinks together recorded a 23 per cent increase in H1 2024, explained Cátilo Cândido.
In addition to this positive result, Brazil is also celebrating its 35 years of journey in the aluminium cans industry. From the production of the first can by the Skol brand in Pouso Alegre (MG) in 1989 to now, Brazil's beverage aluminium can industry has become a lifeline to the domestic economy. In only 10 years since the beginning of can production, Brazil achieved an output of 10 billion cans. At the end of 2009, the number approached 20 billion, and in 2024, the output neared 34 billion units.
Focusing on sustainability over the years, Brazil has also achieved an aluminium can recycling rate of more than 95 per cent, reinforcing the sector as an example of a circular economy. "We are a true success story around the world when we talk about recycling. We are ahead of European countries, which have an average rate of around 73%, and the United States with 56%, for example. This makes us proud and shows the world that we work and collaborate intensely towards the transition to a low-carbon economy", said Cátilo Cândido.
