 "Transport sector to remain aluminium's demand growth point")
Automobiles, or for that matter any other means of transport that run on petrol and diesel, remain among the worst polluters of the environment. No wonder the US Administration has set strict restrictions on emissions by cars, which by 2016 must run a minimum of 35.5 miles to a gallon.
Improvement in automobile efficiency of this order will help the world's largest economy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 per cent. For the same reason, the European Union parliament requires the automobile industry to restrict car CO2 emissions to 95 grams per km by 2021, through varying targets for individual manufacturers. It will not be long before China, which produced 23.7 million (mn) automobiles in 2014, thereby retaining global top slot, and India, which made nearly 3.2 mn cars last year, will by government edicts push the industry to make more environment-friendly vehicles. After all, both countries fared very poorly in the 2014 environmental performance index prepared by Yale and Columbia universities. Their exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), tiny enough to make its way into the bloodstream, is distressingly high. "The nirvana for the automobile industry in India and China, as it will be required to make vehicles progressively more environment friendly, is to rapidly build capacity to light-weight cars and trucks," says National Aluminium Company (Nalco) Chairman Ansuman Das.
Industry experience is that every 10 per cent vehicle weight reduction results in five to seven per cent more fuel economy. This makes it imperative for emerging nation governments to ask the industry to take out weight from vehicles in the same way it is done in the US and Europe. Burning of diesel and petrol leaves an impact on the environment. A Nielsen study on sectoral demand of diesel and petrol in India shows the transport sector accounts for 70 per cent consumption of diesel and as much as 95.4 per cent of petrol. The important thing is petroleum price falls should not in any way detract Delhi from making vehicles less oil hungry by way of their light weighting. "See the profile of the Indian automobile industry. From Suzuki to Ford to Volkswagen, many leading foreign groups are making cars here. The rapidly growing population of car models sold here is the result of internationalisation of designs and engineering. So, it will not be much of a challenge for foreign automakers to replicate the way they are going about the job of vehicle weight reduction," says Das.
Globally, the growth rate in aluminium use will be the highest in the transport sector that includes aircraft, automobiles, railways coaches (sadly not making any progress in India) and ships, says Das. The white metal is doing well in what is described as "substitute competition" encouraging leading producers of rolled aluminium semis, including Hindalco owned Novelis, to invest millions of dollar in research and development, and capacity expansion. As aluminium is to extend its role as the preferred structural material in auto engineering, Novelis has forecast global demand from automakers for white metal sheet will be growing 30 per cent annually through the decade. No wonder it has invested $550mn globally, including commissioning China's first heat-treated aluminium automotive sheet plant to raise its annual auto sheet capacity to 900,000 tonnes. Alcoa, too, is becoming increasingly focused on making high value added aluminium alloys as it goes on closing loss-making smelters.
Growth rate in aluminium use will be the highest in the transport sector that includes aircraft, automobiles, railways coaches and ships
Improvement in automobile efficiency of this order will help the world's largest economy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 per cent. For the same reason, the European Union parliament requires the automobile industry to restrict car CO2 emissions to 95 grams per km by 2021, through varying targets for individual manufacturers. It will not be long before China, which produced 23.7 million (mn) automobiles in 2014, thereby retaining global top slot, and India, which made nearly 3.2 mn cars last year, will by government edicts push the industry to make more environment-friendly vehicles. After all, both countries fared very poorly in the 2014 environmental performance index prepared by Yale and Columbia universities. Their exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), tiny enough to make its way into the bloodstream, is distressingly high. "The nirvana for the automobile industry in India and China, as it will be required to make vehicles progressively more environment friendly, is to rapidly build capacity to light-weight cars and trucks," says National Aluminium Company (Nalco) Chairman Ansuman Das.
Industry experience is that every 10 per cent vehicle weight reduction results in five to seven per cent more fuel economy. This makes it imperative for emerging nation governments to ask the industry to take out weight from vehicles in the same way it is done in the US and Europe. Burning of diesel and petrol leaves an impact on the environment. A Nielsen study on sectoral demand of diesel and petrol in India shows the transport sector accounts for 70 per cent consumption of diesel and as much as 95.4 per cent of petrol. The important thing is petroleum price falls should not in any way detract Delhi from making vehicles less oil hungry by way of their light weighting. "See the profile of the Indian automobile industry. From Suzuki to Ford to Volkswagen, many leading foreign groups are making cars here. The rapidly growing population of car models sold here is the result of internationalisation of designs and engineering. So, it will not be much of a challenge for foreign automakers to replicate the way they are going about the job of vehicle weight reduction," says Das.
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Given the target to reduce greenhouse gas emission by reducing fuel consumption by the vehicle combustion engine, the auto industry in developed markets is making expeditious moves in using light metals. Aluminium is largely replacing comparatively heavy-weight steel for building cars and trucks. The industry's challenge is much bigger than rolling out all-aluminium bodies for top-end luxury cars made in limited numbers. The task is to migrate to multi-material mixes for use in mass produced vehicles to fix the CO2 emission problem. Starting this year, Ford will be using an all-aluminium body for its bestselling F-150 pickup vehicle, thereby light weighting it by as much as 318 kg. General Motors, which earlier was almost ready to give an all-aluminium body makeover to two of its popular vans will now pursue a multi-material approach, including light-weight steel, aluminium, magnesium and carbon fibre to auto building. Japanese company Toyota will make extensive use of aluminium for vehicle hood, closures and several parts for weight reduction. Warnings are coming loud and clear for steel that all kinds of materials, including aluminium, are to find application in cars cutting across all price points.
Globally, the growth rate in aluminium use will be the highest in the transport sector that includes aircraft, automobiles, railways coaches (sadly not making any progress in India) and ships, says Das. The white metal is doing well in what is described as "substitute competition" encouraging leading producers of rolled aluminium semis, including Hindalco owned Novelis, to invest millions of dollar in research and development, and capacity expansion. As aluminium is to extend its role as the preferred structural material in auto engineering, Novelis has forecast global demand from automakers for white metal sheet will be growing 30 per cent annually through the decade. No wonder it has invested $550mn globally, including commissioning China's first heat-treated aluminium automotive sheet plant to raise its annual auto sheet capacity to 900,000 tonnes. Alcoa, too, is becoming increasingly focused on making high value added aluminium alloys as it goes on closing loss-making smelters.
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