ALUMINIUM SCRAP RECOVERY AND USAGE TO RISE
  Aluminium scrap recovery and usage and
  output of secondary metal will continue to rise, said Shearson
  Lehman Brothers in a review of the secondary aluminium market
  which details cost and demand factors.
      Although primary smelting costs have declined generally in
  recent years, the still substantial energy cost savings offered
  by secondary smelters will continue to make re-melted material
  increasingly attractive.
      It takes around 15,000 kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity
  to produce one tonne of primary aluminium compared with around
  550 kwh for one tonne of secondary metal, Shearson said.
      On the demand side, developments in automobiles and
  packaging bode well for secondary aluminium consumption.
      Automobile production, although expected to fall this year,
  is still on an upward trend and will continue to be so for the
  foreseeable future and, in addition, use of aluminium castings
  is gaining wider acceptance in the automobile industry,
  particularly in the U.S.
      In packaging, Shearson does not expect aluminium to
  dominate the beverage can market in any of the other major
  economies to the extent it does in the U.S., But says there is
  evidence recycling is on the increase in other countries.
      In addition to the cost savings involved, technology
  advances now enable alloys of higher purity to be produced by
  the secondary aluminium industry, Shearson said.
      There is not likely to be a problem of availability as the
  U.S. Has a huge scrap reservoir and this is also true of
  several European countries, albeit on a smaller scale.
  

