Mr Kleinfeld sees sustainable and slow recovery in aluminium

Reuters cited Mr Klaus Kleinfeld CEO of aluminium producer Alcoa Inc as saying that the world economy is now on its way to sustainable recovery but the way up will be a slow one. Mr Klaus Kleinfeld said that "The freefall has ended. I now see again a series of positive signs. I believe the uptrend is sustainable but I do not expect that we will have a quick, jerky upward movement. I believe the level will stabilize and then gradually proceed further up." He said that the aluminium price is now at USD 1,900 per tonne after having fallen as low as USD 1,100 per tonne. This increase is a completely important indicator." Mr Kleifeld said that "More and more traders are asking for our delivery conditions. They recognize that they are unable to deliver as soon as the demand starts. They are afraid now that they will miss the first surge of demand." He said that the usual dent seen during the summer break has not materialized to a large extent. There is not a region in the world, not even in Europe, where the holiday effects have always been the strongest where we see a slackening in demand. Mr Kleinfeld said that the recovery has already started in Brazil and he expects India will post growth again in 2009. He said that there are also positive signs emerging in the US, citing an increase in housing sales, orders for manufactured goods and car production. (Sourced from Reuters)