Aluminium. the; regulation of price.

Progress, Volume III, Issue I, 1 November 1907, Page 24

Aluminium. the; regulation of price.

The comparatively high price which prevails for the metal aluminium has continued for a year or two, and there is no immediate prospect of any reduction, notwithstanding the non-existence of the internationial syndicate which formerly controlled the price. It is probable, (says the Mechanical World) that if water power were not used on a large scale in connection with the electrical production of aluminium in different countries, the quotation for the metal would be higher than it is at the present time. The reason for the maintenance of the price at its present level is to be found in the large demand which is experienced for aluminium for numerous purposes, a demand which has increased in a greater proportion than the production. Apparently a great deal of secrecy exists in respect of the actual output of aluminium in the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, France, Germany, and Austria. It is known that the different works are equippen with plant representing 100,000 h.p., but the production of each is not specifically stated. It is estimated by expert metal statisticians that the output of aluminium throughout the world amounted to 14,500 tons in 1906, and representing an augmentation of 3,000 tons over the preceding year, and 5,000 tons as compared with 1904. These figures are, of course, estimates, and there are no means of testing their accuracy. At the same time, there is no reason for doubting that they are approximately correct. The future is to witness a large increase in the outturn of the metal, seeing that all the producers, including the British companies, have extensions of work in hand, and most of these are expected to be completed and in operation next year. The directors of the Neuhausen Company, which was one of the pioneers in the electrical production of aluminium, have expressed the opinion that when these developments have actually been completed, the considerably greater quantity of metal which will then be available will lead to a decline in price. Such an event would be welcomed by consumers, but there is no certainty that the future will confirm this opinion. In the first place, it is highly probable that the consumption of aluminium will continue to increase, and if the augmentation equalises the advance in the production, there is little prospect of the price being reduced. On the other hand, if the output should become greater than the demand, the quotation may be lowered to promote the consumption. It is, however, far from certain that the producers would act in this manner, and for

that matter there is nothing in the way of a renewal of the international syndicate for the purpose of again regulating the price, in the course of the next year or so, when supplies of the metal become more plentiful.