Reuters reported that fears of escalating political unrest across the Middle East and North Africa will not put off investment in new aluminum projects in the region.
Gulf States in particular are expected to become an increasingly important aluminum supply source as new smelters start up and others are planned.
Mr Mahmood Daylami GM of the Gulf Aluminum Council said that "If there is any fear from the investors side now this will only be temporary and they will come back again. So far there are no signs of investors pulling out of any projects."
The Gulf is one of the few areas outside top producer China where aluminum output is rising, benefiting from ready availability of cheap power for the energy intensive smelting process. High power costs have forced the idling of a large amount of smelter capacity in the United States and Europe over the years.
Mr Olivier Masson of industry consultants CRU Group said that it was too early to say whether projects in the Middle East might be derailed. If the turmoil were to escalate it could be a worry as the Middle East is one of the main growth areas outside China.
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