12 February 2015

As the second most used metal in the world today, aluminum has rapidly increased its market in recent years to help cope with the global industrial boom. From 2010 to 2015, over 242 million metric tons of aluminum was produced worldwide[1], a figure that serves as a strong indicator of the high demand for the product. Analysts forecast that the global aluminum market will grow at a rate of 5.9 per cent over the 2013 to 2018 period[2] , with demand growing up to 38.3 per cent in North America from 2009.[3] In the GCC, there was a 31 per cent increase in aluminum production in 2014 resulting in almost 5 million tons of primary aluminum being produced.[4]

Highly sought after for its strength, fluidity and high conductivity, aluminum is particularly in demand in the field of construction. Especially in regions such as Africa which is now attracting global attention to its increased efforts to boost its economy. As the region slowly makes itself more marketable, additional marked developments will continue in areas such as infrastructure as reflected in an average annual rise of almost 9.0 per cent in cement production in support of the surge of building and construction projects being undertaken.[5]

Recognizing the growing demand within Africa and the need to offer sophisticated services for establishing strong foundations for the region’s upcoming projects, National Aluminum Products Company SAOG (NAPCO) will be focusing their attention towards these countries.  In line with their initiative to increase market share globally, NAPCO will be working to create an even more competitive supply in the area where it has mainly exported extruded profiles for doors and windows.