Alcoa "Optimistic" Aluminum Prices Will Rise on Power Shortage

[phantom power]

"Energy is one of the rarest commodities." -- there's a sentence I don't ever recall reading way back in the 20th century.

(Bloomberg) -- Alcoa Inc. Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said he's ``very optimistic'' aluminum prices will rise in the next five years as producers encounter difficulty finding enough power to meet demand for the metal.

Chinese demand for aluminum will climb again after the Beijing Olympic Games are finished and a ``strongly managed ramp- down'' of the country's industrial activity ends, Kleinfeld said yesterday in an interview in New York, where Alcoa is based. China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, will become a net importer of aluminum as use increases, he said.

Alcoa and rivals including United Co. Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer, are battling higher prices for the electricity that powers their smelters. While those costs curtail production growth, wealthier populations in China, India, Russia and other emerging markets are driving demand for the metal used in beverage cans, cars and aircraft.

``I have not met anybody who in the long term is not assuming there will be a real issue of undersupply in the market,'' said Kleinfeld, 50. ``Energy is one of the rarest commodities. It will be very, very difficult to bring new capacity on line and even to sustain old capacity.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOePgkzEgesU&refer=home

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Cost of soda: $.25

Cost of can: $1.00

[Trillo]

2. Can recycling deposit: $.50

Deposit Refund: $0.20