What can Middle East Steel Learn from Middle East Aluminium?

摘要

Primary aluminium production in the Middle East region is presently about 1800kt/y, or 6 percent of global supply. Projects have been announced that will more than double output to 3765kt/y, the attraction to the aluminium smelter being an abundant supply of low cost electricity. Producing aluminium is in effect an alternative way of exporting energy and provides diversification from the present strong reliance on petroleum products for export earnings. World output of aluminium in 2005 was around 41 million tonnes (Mt). This was made up of 31 Mt of primary aluminium produced from the ore and an estimated 10Mt of secondary aluminium produced by remelting scrap. This compares with a crude steel output from both ore and scrap remelting of 1107.14Mt in 2005. Thus by weight, over 27 times more steel was produced than aluminium. Even taking the density difference into account, (2.7/7.8) - so aluminium is approximately only one third the weight of steel - steel production by volume exceeded aluminium production by a factor of 9.5.