The Brazilian Aluminum Association (ABAL) has published a new consumption forecast for the domestic market of transformed aluminum products in 2013. According to the association, the domestic demand for transformed aluminum products should reach 1,480.4 million tons, 3.7% higher than the total in 2012.

Even with the 0.9% decline recorded in the first quarter for the market, which resulted in the consumption of 357,600 tons in the period, ABAL has projected a market recovery in the coming months, which is aligned to the performance of major aluminum consumer markets.

“After a quarter, the forecasts for the aluminum industry have fallen short of projected estimates made at the end of last year. The GDP result demonstrates that government measures have not been sufficient to help economy recover”, Luis Carlos Loureiro Filho, coordinator for ABAL´s Economics and Statistics Committee, said.

Balance of trade
Foreign sales for the Brazilian aluminum industry in the first quarter totaled $ 941 million FOB, down 8.1% over the same period in 2012; imports also fell 9.4% recording $ 310 million FOB. According to ABAL´s projections, in 2013 the segment´s exports are expected to reach $ 4.4 billion (12.6% higher) primarily driven by increased shipments of alumina. Imports are likely to reach a decrease of about 17.0%, totaling $ 1.4 billion.