For the first 9 months of 2015, global demand for aluminium increased by 5.6 percent. The most rapid growth rates in China, India, the Middle East and the United States. However, contrary to global trends, Russia and the CIS remain stagnant markets. As reported in the recently established Russian Association of aluminium, for the first 3 quarters of 2015, the reduction in consumption of primary aluminum in the market of Russia and CIS accounted for about 11 percent, due to falling demand from major industries.
Currently, the Russian market share in the world consumption of aluminium is less than 1.5 percent. The world market for primary aluminium is 58 million tons per year, while Russia consumes about 800 thousand tons.
Per capita consumption of aluminium in Russia and the CIS is estimated at 5.6 kg per person per year. The global average level of more than 8 kg. the Level of industrialized countries of about 15 kg. In General, compared with 1993, Russia has reduced its consumption of primary aluminum by one-third with the global growth of 2.6 times.
The consumption of aluminum is closely linked to the development of high-tech manufacturing industries (automotive, aviation, aerospace, projects, electronics, etc.). Thus, indirectly, the drop in the consumption of aluminum and aluminum alloys shows increasing technological backwardness of the Russian economy from the economies of developed countries.
Acute problem of import substitution as Russian aluminium is slightly more than half of the domestic market share, while foreign supplies that cover more than 45 percent of the needs. 2014 due to the collapse of the national currency has tended to reduce imports, however, while the volumes remain significant.
As noted in the Association of aluminum, the situation is due to the existing problems of the industry, which lead to the inability of domestic enterprises to provide the necessary volume of production.
According to experts, to increase the growth of aluminum consumption it is necessary to amend the existing state standards (GOST and SNiP), which does not allow the use of aluminum in some constructions and to stimulate the development of related sectors of the Russian aluminium consuming industries, including aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding, car building, energy, etc.
The Association see a potential of more than double the growth of aluminum consumption in Russia up to 2.2 million tonnes by 2020, which will require additional efforts to boost consumption and import substitution from all market participants (including government and major financial institutions), as well as the development of a unified long-term strategy of development of the industry.