The trade body said that overall shipment growth for aluminium foil in 2010 was 10.6 per cent to 850,300 t, up from768,600 t in 2009.
Figures for the last quarter of 2010 (207,100 t) were 3.9 per cent up on 2009.
EAFA President François Coëffic said, “The figures represent a return close to the record pre-crisis levels of 2006 and, even though we live in more unpredictable economic times, confidence is returning and we as EAFA are cautiously optimistic for 2011.”
There is strong demand for both packaging and technical products according to EAFA’s 2010 figures.
Thinner gauges, mainly used in flexible packaging applications and for household foil, increased by 9.8 per cent. Thicker gauges used for container applications and in automotive, building and other industrial sectors, were up 16 per cent in 2010.
Novelis invests in aluminum plant
Aluminum supplier Novelis is to invest of $18m in the construction of a new recycling center in Germany as demand picks up for aluminium in food packaging.
The Novelis recycling center at the company’s Aluminium Norf GmbH (Alunorf) in West Germany, will process aluminum scrap from its plants and also the manufacturing facilities of Novelis customers in Europe.
The combined capacity of the integrated recycling operations will be 100,000 metric tons per year when the facility’s new processes start up in late 2011.
The centre will recycle 50,000 metric tons of aluminum scrap per year to feed the rolling mills of Alunorf, the world's largest aluminum rolling complex.
Novelis said that construction has already begun on a multi-chamber melting furnace and ancillary equipment at the plant.
It is the second phase of a recycling expansion project at Alunorf that began in 2009 with the construction of a similar recycling facility funded by the joint venture partner, Norsk Hydro ASA.