Aluminum Supply To Drop As Costs Rise Over Next Five Years

June 3, 2008 12:00 p.m. EST

London, UK (AHN) - Industry experts raised concern of a possible drop inf aluminum supplies in the next five years following record high increases in the price of oil and problems facing producers in China and South Africa.

An estimated 50,000 tons of aluminum was lost following the massive earthquake and snowstorms that hit China, the world's largest aluminum producer.

In South Africa, London's Rio Tinto Group, the second-largest producer of aluminum postponed its $2.7 billion smelter project in South Africa after the nation's state-run utility failed to assure power for the plant before 2011, leading Saudi Arabian Mining Company to delay its venture with the British conglomerate.

Demand for aluminum expands 6 percent annually.

The high cost of fuel could push aluminum beyond $3,200 per ton by December.