Automotive aluminium demand to grow 3.5 million tonnes a year by 2025, says Novelis

Aluminium demand by the automotive industry is projected to more than double by 2025, driven by increasing growth in Asia, a senior executive at Novelis Inc, the world’s largest manufacturer of rolled aluminum products, said on Thursday, 04 October 2018.

 “Typically what we see is an increase of aluminium percentage of the (automotive) body, which is why we’re projecting to grow from 1.5 million tonnes of aluminium demand this year to 3.5 million tonnes a year in 2025,” Pierre Labat told Reuters.

“We will continue to add new products in the years to come which make the value proposition of aluminum very compelling for strength and light weight,” said Pierre Labat, Vice President of Global Automotive at Novelis.

according to Reuters report, of the estimated 1.5 million tonnes of global automotive body sheet demand in 2018, Asia accounted for only about 10 percent, or about 150,000 tonnes, Labat said. Asia is expected to be the fastest growing region in coming years and match European demand by 2025.

“China and the rest of Asia will almost grow from 10 percent to one third of global demand,” he said.

In May, Novelis announced it will invest approximately $180 million to double its automotive aluminium body sheet capacity at its Changzhou facility in China. “We believe China's commitment to fuel efficiency and reducing emissions represent a large and favourable opportunity that will require greater adoption of aluminium, particularly in the rapidly growing electric vehicle market," Steve Fisher, President and CEO, Novelis said earlier.

Novelis supplies aluminium to automakers including Jaguar Land Rover, Ford Motor Co and also to beverage companies such as Coca Cola.