Saudi Arabia to yield more revenue from aluminium scrap export this year backed on increasing volume

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been boasting over the years as one of the major exporters in the aluminium scrap industry while generating a significant amount of revenue. Both its export volume and revenue have been witnessing a year-on-year growth, and 2018 is estimated to be no exception, as per the data shown by the international export-import research.

The aluminium scrap in Saudi Arabia is gathered from various sources such as used beverage cans, which account for almost 50 per cent for sourcing scrap, old buildings, vehicle engine blocks, utensils, and electric cables.

Development on expanding aluminium smelting capacity is also at peak in the Kingdom which is expected to generate a larger amount of scrap and thereby boost the export volume. For instance, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is reportedly progressing at full speed with the construction of its landmark Line 6 Expansion Project. Besides, it has recently commissioned the state-of-the-art Batch homogenizer in Casthouse 3 for specialised billet requirements.

Hence, amid the numerous developments in the aluminium industry, Saudi Arabia’s export volume in 2018 is expected to rise to 218064 tonnes, 24 per cent up from 175808 tonnes in 2017 and 32 per cent from 164958 tonnes in 2016. This shows Saudi Arabia is to see a year-on-year growth in aluminium scrap export this year as well.

The increasing export volume is estimated to drive the export revenue as well to US$ 375 million in 2018. In 2017, it was 25 per cent lower at US$ 279 million and in 2016, 36 per cent lower at US$ 240 million.

Among the major scrap importers from Saudi Arabia like South Korea, United States, and Netherlands, India is expected to continue to remain at the top. Rather, the country is estimated to import a larger volume of aluminium scrap this year compared with the previous year. From 106107 tonnes in 2017, the volume is likely to increase to 143151 tonne, up by almost 26 per cent. However, the expected increase in volume is not likely to boost the revenue this year. From US$ 202 million of revenue in 2017, it is estimated to shrink to US$ 184 million this year, which means about 8 per cent of revenue would decrease in Saudi Arabia’s aluminium scrap export from India.