Qatari aluminium producer Qatalum expects Middle East and North African demand for the metal to rise by 5 per cent this year, a senior Qatalum executive said on Sunday.   

The regional pace of demand growth would be in line with or a little slower than Qatalum's projected global rise in consumption this year.

The company, an aluminium plant joint venture built by Qatar Petroleum and Norsk Hydro, expects global aluminium demand to rise by 5-7 per cent this year, said Qatalum deputy chief Executive Hassan Al-Rashid.

China was expected to grow by 12 per cent, and Qatalum would be targeting the Asian market, Al-Rashid said. Of first production, around 40 per cent would go to Asia, while 35 per cent would go to Europe and the rest to the Middle East and North Africa, Al-Rashid said.

About three quarters of Qatalum's aluminium production would go to the automotive sector, he said. Demand for fuel-efficient cars in China and India would underline aluminium consumption there, he added.

"With aluminium you can produce very light cars," he said.   

Qatalum expects to reach full capacity at its 585,000-tonne plant in the fourth quarter this year, Al-Rashid said. The company started the $5.7 billion plant in December 2009 and is officially inaugurating the facility on Monday.

Qatalum had no scheduled maintenance at the plant planned until 2013, Al-Rashid said. The new plant in Qatar and another in the United Arab Emirates would bring total aluminium production in the Arab Gulf to over 3 million tonnes per year (tpy), according to the Gulf Aluminium Council (GAC). - Reuters