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Nexans (NEX.PA), a French company that makes electrical wiring and cables, says that the switch from copper to aluminum is inevitable. Its corporate purchasing director, Christophe Allain, told the CRU Group’s World Copper Conference in April that “the switch will come; the big question is when and what size it will be.” As Nexans told the Financial Times, one reason is that aluminum cables currently cost about 40% less than copper ones – even though more insulation is required for aluminum cabling. For countries in the developing world that are still building out a power grid, that price difference is a huge deal.

The first is from the FT and reviews the quiet but steady migration from the use of copper to aluminum for the transmission of electrical power. In Europe and the US, we are familiar with the widespread use of All Aluminum Cables (AAC) for the long distance transmission of high voltage electrical power, but in other parts of the world — often parts of the world undergoing the most rapid development of transmission systems such as Asia  — copper is still the majority. In Western countries, the article quotes a producer as saying, roughly 60% of overhead and insulated power cables are made of aluminum but in the Gulf region and China it is only about 25%.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was presented with the Industry Leadership Award for Aluminum at the inaugural Platts Global Metals Awards, sponsored by Platts, a leading global provider of energy, petrochemical and metals information. Alcoa was recognized for taking decisive action resulting in a substantial transformation or change of direction in the aluminum industry.

Alcoa was again recognized as the global aluminum industry sustainability leader and the North American leader in the aluminum sector.

There is an unmet need in the construction industry for accurate information about the installation and use of aluminum wire, particularly in building construction.

China’s aluminum wire and cable exports surged in February on saturated domestic market and quicker payment by overseas buyers, Shanghai Metals Market has learned.

This new market research report on Copper Clad Aluminum Busbar (CCA Busbar) provides comprehensive market data, including market size and forecast by Copper Clad Aluminum Busbar (CCA Busbar) application and products on a regional basis from 2012 to 2020

We also strongly believe that our ability to offer aluminum building wire has helped to increase our copper building wire sales over the last 2 years. Over the trailing four quarters, our copper unit sales are up 13% over the previous four quarters. We believe that is due in some part to the fact we now also offer aluminum wire. We continue to believe that copper will be the conductor of choice in most building wire applications, but we will offer aluminum to those customers who want it. We will continue to canvass our independent manufacturer's representatives and our electrical distributor customers, to determine what products they are purchasing that may make sense for us to produce and sell.

The electronic content, and thus the interconnect content, has been increasing in light vehicles, and this trend will continue through this forecast period.

Aluminum wire increasingly is used in passenger car wire harnesses. To reduce weight and improve gas mileage, the automotive companies are turning to aluminum wire, among other solutions. Aluminum wire always has the potential issue of galvanic corrosion between the wire and the beryllium-copper or phos-bronze contacts. Companies like TE Connectivity and Delphi have come up with solutions that alleviate this concern.