16 April
São Paulo,
Press Release

Domestic consumption reached the historical record of 1,023.9 thousand ton of processed aluminum products.  
 
The Brazilian Aluminum Association – ABAL- announced the performance of the Brazilian aluminum market in 2008. According to the entity, the domestic consumption of aluminum transformed products grew for the fifth consecutive year, and closed 2008 at 1,023.9 thousand ton, a volume 11.4% above the volume reached in 2007.

Even with the significant slowdown in the last quarter of the year, the industry´s main sectors showed an excellent performance. The following sectors stood out: Sheets and Foils, at 11.3% growth; Castings, at 12.3%; Extrusion at 7.9% and Wires and Cables at 34.5%.

Responding for approximately 30% of the total aluminum consumption, the Packaging industry, that consumes sheets and foils, grew by 7.3% compared to 2007. The second largest consumer of aluminum products, mainly castings and extruded products, the Transports industry grew by 10.8% in the year. Investments in transmission lines ensured the Electrical Power industry an increase of 31.3% in 2008. Confirming the good performance, the Building & Construction segment that demands mainly extruded products and sheets, grew by 9.6%.

“The domestic market ensured the strong consumption of aluminum products up to the third quarter of the year, when the crisis hit all production sectors. Even so, the industry supplied over one million ton of metal, a new record, consolidating an average growth of 9% in the last five years”, says ABAL´s president, Luis Carlos Loureiro Filho.