Ongoing uncertainty in global aluminium markets and the US-China trade dispute were found to take a toll on European aluminium foil rollers in the September quarter. The overall demand had gone down by 2.2 per cent to 228,685 tonnes with year to date figures, while the total production remained unchanged at 714,251 tonnes, according to the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) data.
The downturn could be attributed largely to the drop in demand in the market for thinner gauges by around 1.9 per cent YTD. Figures showed a decline of 4.4 per cent in deliveries as well in this category. However, the deliveries of thicker gauges had recorded a rise of 2 per cent in the quarter.
The application of thinner gauges is in flexible packaging and household foils, while that of thicker gauges is in semi-rigid containers, technical, or other applications.
Exports also reflected the ongoing global trade uncertainties with a small drop of 0.8 per cent in the last quarter, but continued well ahead of 2018 YTD figures with a growth of 21.4 per cent.
“Predicting demand in the current market is extremely difficult,” said Bruno Rea, EAFA President. “Demand in Europe for aluminium foil has generally been weak throughout 2019 due to increasing exports from China, but there are some bright spots, particularly the consistent performance of thicker gauges and strong export deliveries,” he added.
“We are positive - the last quarter of the year is traditionally a good one for the sector and it is possible customers have held off restocking for the upcoming Holiday Season until later this year. So with incoming orders almost on a par with 2018, itself a record for the industry, we believe this is a very resilient performance in unpredictable times,” he explained.
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