South Korea’s automotive aluminium sheet imports to rise driven by lightweight vehicle demand

The global metal automotive sheet market is expected to grow at a moderate 3.7 per cent CAGR from 2017 to 2025, shows data in a recent market research report by Transparency Market Research. According to the report, the growth that is to be mainly driven by lightweight automotive market will result in the opening up of a whole new and solid end-use domain for aluminium. Steel, which has been dominating the segment so far, will soon witness a rising competition from the light metal, thanks to the changing preferences of the global automotive manufacturers. South Korea, along with United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, and China will dominate the market as a major consumer of automotive aluminium sheets and other rolled products.

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International trade data reveals that South Korea has always been a heavy importer of aluminium plates, sheets and strips of which automotive aluminium sheets comprise a major part. In 2015, the South-east Asian country imported 309529 tonnes of the aluminium rolled products, worth US$1.02 billion. Last year, the volume imported fell slightly; it stood at 211411 tonnes worth US$799 million. This year again, aluminium plates, sheets and strips imports by South Korea are estimated to surge, reaching 290209 tonnes. The total imported is to be valued at around US$2.8 billion by the end of the year.

Quarterly import trend analysis suggests that South Korea will spend US$699 million to buy 74982 tonnes of aluminium plates, sheets and strips from the international market during the first quarter of the current financial year ending June 30. During the second quarter, the imports will total at 72278 tonnes worth US$740 million, estimates show.

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The countries from where South Korea has been importing its major chunk of aluminium plates, sheets and strips include China, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, USA, and Russia.

The global automotive sheet metal components market is estimated to rise from a valuation of US$104.30 billion in 2016 to US$142.41 billion in 2025. In terms of material, aluminium contributed nearly 40 per cent to the overall revenue accumulated by the segment in 2016 and is expected to remain the second most preferred metal after steel over the forecast period.