Aluminum Surplus to Widen as Idled Smelters Restart

Global aluminum supply will exceed demand by 5.6 percent this year, spurring lower prices, as idled smelters restart and new capacity comes on-stream, Japan’s third-largest trading house said.

The surplus may be 2.4 million metric tons, up from 2.3 million tons predicted in July, Motoi Kamitani, manager of light metal trading at Tokyo-based Sumitomo Corp., which has stakes in smelters in Australia, Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, said in an interview Jan. 28. The surplus was 1.3 million tons in 2010.