Aluminum Demand Growth Has Beaten GDP Growth - BHP Billiton

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Aluminum demand growth has benefited disproportionately from global gross domestic product growth, Jon Dudas, President of BHP Billiton Aluminium, a division of U.K.-listed miner BHP Billiton PLC (BHP), said Thursday. Aluminum saw the strongest demand growth in percentage terms in the five years to 2008, at about 36%, he said in a presentation on the company's Web site. Just over two-thirds of this figure came from China. This beat steel, which saw demand growth of about 33% in the period, of which about half was from China. "Aluminum saw some of the best demand growth rates during the recent commodities boom," Dudas said. "However, Chinese supply has been a key influence on the aluminum market." Dudas said China continues to rely on overseas bauxite and alumina to meet the needs of its domestic metal industry. At the same time, China's domestic energy resources, along with other developing economies, will need to be managed in the coming years, he said. Qatar has the highest energy reserves per capita, followed by Australia and Norway, but Brazil, China and India are among the lowest, the presentation showed. China relies mostly on coal.