The global aluminum market will swing into a deficit this year for the first time since 2006 as cuts in output deepen and demand from automakers grows, according to trading house Sumitomo Corp.
Global consumption will outpace supply by 61,000 metric tons in 2014, flipping from a surplus of 580,000 tons last year, said Shingi Yamagiwa, Sumitomo's manager of light metals trading. The deficit will widen to 493,000 tons in 2015, he said.
Sumitomo, which owns stakes in smelters from Malaysia and Australia to Brazil, joins Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in predicting demand will overtake supply this year.