Joe Quinn, executive director of the SAFE Center for Strategic Industrial Materials, told the Washington Examiner that demand for aluminum is increasing due to growing use in the transportation sector and energy transition.
“You are never more than six feet away from aluminum,” Quinn said.
Quinn said the U.S. relies heavily on aluminum sites in the Middle East, noting that not many countries produce aluminum.
“The situation in Iran has become a lot more acute,” Quinn said. “We’re waiting for the damage reports to come out, but it seems to be indicating there could be, at the high end, 5 million metric tons are going to be taken off of the global supply globally in one day.”
Quinn noted that it will take time to restore operations at the aluminum sites in the Middle East. For instance, once power is lost, molten aluminum quickly solidifies within hours and reheating needs to happen gradually.
However, global supplies of aluminum have been diminishing long before the war in Iran.
Earlier this year, EGA and Century Aluminum announced a proposed project to build a new aluminum smelter in Oklahoma. The proposed project is expected to produce 750,000 metric tons of aluminum per year. But it would take several years to build and begin production.
Quinn noted that a decision on whether to move forward with the project is expected by the end of the year.
“We’ll know come Christmas, if the United States [is] serious about strengthening these securing supply chains for aluminum,” Quinn said.
Read the full story: “Iran war disrupts global aluminum supply, prolonging shortages for months.”
