Balances of aluminum foil

According to studies made by the EAFA (European Aluminium Foil Association), the aluminum foil industry closed 2014 on a positive note.

Despite the ups and downs, European production has reached 852 685 t, with a slight decrease to a modest 0.3% over the previous year. Supported by favorable exchange rates, exports instead showed all their strength, closing the year with an increase of 17.2% and thus passing from 84 126 t in 2013 to 98,668 last year. The most vibrant target areas are the non-European ones, while deliveries in the EAFA region * were down bye 2.2%, totalling 754 018 t against 771 385 t in 2013. The performance of this industry differs sector to sector. In fact, if overall deliveries in the fourth quarter of the year fell by 2.9% (200 420 tons against 206 449 in the same period last year), the demand for  thicker gauge aluminium, mainly used for the production of semi-rigid containers and technical applications, appears slightly up (+ 1.8%), thanks to the slow recovery of the technical market. The demand for foil, mainly used for flexible packaging and rolls for household use, was rather weak throughout the year, which ended with a decrease in deliveries (-1.3%), caused mainly by the progressive downgauging and the growing competition from non-European suppliers.

Comments and expectations. «After a very good start - says Manfred Mertens, vice president and group president of EAFA Roller group - we observed a gradual slowdown in the remaining nine months of 2014. It was, however, a slight or seasonal downturn; viewed overall deliveries only dropped very slightly from the previous year. Exports show a different picture, with increases buoyed by the weak euro, though slowing in the mature European markets. As for the current year, EAFA aluminium foil producers expect an acceleration of growth in most markets, even considering that the future remains uncertain and forecasting difficult.

*The EAFA region includes the 28 EU member states and Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey.