Goldman: Aluminum-price outlook more positive

Optimism over the outlook for aluminum prices is growing, with the metal’s demand prospects turning increasingly positive at a time when production capacity is being reined in, Goldman Sachs said Tuesday.

Market participants are hopeful of better demand from the aerospace industry, with growth of around 10% expected on a global basis this year, while they also appear mildly bullish on demand from the U.S. automotive sector, which is forecast to grow by 5%-10% in 2012, the U.S. investment bank wrote in a note.

There is also cautious optimism over the outlook for consumption by the U.S. construction sector, which is “no longer expected to be a drag on aluminum demand,” the bank said.

“Short term order books for the first quarter [are] generally full, although visibility beyond [that] is low,” Goldman Sachs said.

The price of aluminum on the London Metal Exchange has been rebounding this month after sliding to a 17-month low in December. At 1151 GMT, the metal traded flat at $2,238 a metric ton. – MarketWatch

Tags: aluminium, aluminium price, aluminium prices, base metals, industrial metals

Posted by admin on Jan 26 2012. Filed under Aluminum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry