Aluminum replaces other metal foreground highlights

Since this year, the spread of aluminum and copper, nickel and other metals has continued to widen. The LME copper price has exceeded the US$3,000/ton mark, and the domestic copper price has also reached the level of 30,000 yuan/ton. The LME nickel price has remained at the level of about 15,000 US dollars/ton, which is nearly double the rate of increase in the same period of last year; steel prices are from It has also been climbing since 2001. The domestic and foreign markets’ aluminum prices have risen by only about 20% compared with the same period of last year, which were around US$1,700 and US$17,500 per ton respectively. In the context of significant price increases for metals such as copper, nickel, and steel and relatively low aluminum prices -
The relative abundance of low aluminum prices and aluminum resources makes it practical and possible for aluminum to replace other metals <br> The price difference between copper and aluminum in the international market was less than $100 in the second half of 2001 and only 300 in October before last year. The dollar fluctuates around. Since 2004, especially in the near future, the copper-aluminum spread has gradually widened, and it has now reached the highest level of over 1,200 US dollars. The aluminum-nickel price spread also reached a historical high of 1 to 10 in December last year. It is also currently maintained at a high level of about 1 to 9.
The world's aluminum resources are much richer than other metal resources such as copper. Copper and nickel and other metals, from the perspective of static reserves, can only be used for more than ten years or decades in the world at the current rate of exploitation. The existing reserves of bauxite can be guaranteed for hundreds of years. This advantage of aluminum resources, for the manufacturing industry to choose aluminum as raw materials, provides relatively long-term prospects.
Aluminum was used by humans on a large scale and it began more than a century ago. Aluminium, with its rich resources and low price advantage, soon became one of the most important metal raw materials in processing and manufacturing worldwide. Its production and consumption ranks second among metals, second only to steel.
Aluminium, a silver-white light metal, has good ductility, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and corrosion resistance. It can also reflect ultraviolet rays, prevent nuclear radiation, and is easily processed into alloy materials with other metals. These properties of aluminum are similar to those of copper, nickel, zinc, etc. Therefore, in many fields, these metals can substitute for each other.
This price-performance ratio of aluminum has become more and more important to the industry under the current market price structure.
The substitutability of aluminum to other metals is mainly manifested in the following areas: 1. The substitution of aluminum for copper. The inadequacy of the aluminum wire to replace the copper wire is that the conductivity and safety are slightly inferior to copper, so the copper wire has always played a leading role in the wire and cable field. If the copper-aluminum spread is kept at a normal level, the industry tends to use copper as a conductor. However, under the current situation where the LME price per ton of copper and aluminum has exceeded 1,200 U.S. dollars, and China has already surpassed 12,000 U.S. dollars, replacing aluminum conductors with copper conductors is economically very profitable. In fact, because aluminum weighs only half as much as copper, even if the price of copper and aluminum is the same, aluminum will still appear to be much cheaper than copper by weight.
2, the replacement of aluminum to stainless steel. As the price of nickel climbed sharply, the price of stainless steel has also increased not much in the past two years. The use of stainless steel as raw material has led to a sharp increase in the cost of raw materials for the production of household appliances, utensils, etc., and the price of finished products has been difficult to increase accordingly. The appearance of aluminum is not as good as that of stainless steel, but it is still superior to steel materials in corrosion resistance and appearance, and the price is relatively superior to stainless steel. The use of aluminum or aluminum alloys to replace or partially replace stainless steel, although slightly inferior in the performance and appearance of the finished product, is economically very cost-effective and easier for consumers to accept.
3, the alternative of aluminum to steel. Aluminum and aluminum alloys have low density and high strength and can replace steel in some industrial sectors. For some of the world's small metal products processing companies, you can buy a relatively small amount of aluminum strip, instead of galvanized steel. Aluminum can also replace ordinary steel in some ways, such as welded pipes, car hoods, and lids.
4. The use of aluminum instead of other metal materials has become the first choice for lighter-weight automotive manufacturing. The main direction of the development of the world's automotive materials technology is lightweight and environmental protection. Reducing the quality of automobiles is one of the most effective measures to reduce vehicle emissions and increase fuel efficiency. According to calculations, every 10% reduction in the vehicle's own quality can reduce fuel consumption by 6% to 8%. At present, the quality of foreign cars has been reduced by 20% to 26% compared with the past. It is expected that in the next 10 years, the quality of the car itself will continue to reduce by 20%. Therefore, the development and application of new lightweight materials will continue to be a hot spot for automotive materials, and aluminum and its alloys are currently a better choice for the automotive industry.
The substitution of aluminum for other metals will promote the growth of global aluminum consumption. According to calculations, the replacement of copper conductors with aluminum conductors alone will increase global aluminum consumption by more than 200,000 tons. If the amount of aluminum used in each car is increased from the current 115 kg to 130 kg, then the new cars each year in the world will consume millions of tons of aluminum in terms of tens of millions of vehicles. If we consider the substitution of aluminum and aluminum alloys for other metals in construction, decoration, household appliances, utensils, stainless steel, etc., then the increase in aluminum consumption in the world will be calculated in millions of tons.