Asia Pacific: Fastest growing market for alloys

Driven by strong industrial production in developing countries, the global market for high performance alloys is projected to reach 12.7 million metric tons by the year 2018. Asia-Pacific represents the fastest growing market over the analysis period. The U.S. continues to remain the largest regional market. In Europe, demand for high-performance alloys is losing steam due to an overall economic slowdown in the region. By product, non-ferrous alloys represent the largest segment accounting for a lion's share of the market pie.

The automotive industry, in particular, is driving demand for lightweight alloys, given the growing OEMs focus on producing more eco-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles. In this regard, demand for aluminium alloys in the manufacture of automotive parts and components are poised to grow robustly. The potential offered by the increasing use of aluminium in vehicle production can be put into perspective by the automotive industry's futuristic vision of manufacturing aluminium cars which are believed to be 28% lighter than their conventional counterparts.