Auto industry is running out of aluminum and magnesium

Furnace for aluminum production

The material bottleneck paralyzes production.

(Photo: Thomas Ernsting / laif)

Stuttgart, Düsseldorf These are troubled times for supply chain managers in the auto industry: they are still battling the chip crisis on a daily basis. An even bigger problem is brewing: the aluminum shortage.

Supply chain experts are sounding the alarm. “We are already hearing from the first suppliers and upstream suppliers that their aluminum stocks are currently shrinking rapidly,” says Lars-Peter Häfele, raw materials expert at the consulting firm Inverto, which specializes in supply chains. Since March, global aluminum stocks have almost halved.

The problem: no other industry in Germany is as dependent on aluminum as the automotive industry. They account for almost half of all aluminum consumption in Germany. The bottleneck in this important material therefore has the potential to cause economic damage.

Aluminum is found in many components that are mainly produced by suppliers. The housings of electric motors and the power electronics, parts of the engine block, up to the rims and brake clamps are made of aluminum.

Top jobs of the day

Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.

Read on now

Get access to this and every other article in the

Web and in our app for 4 weeks free of charge.

Further

Read on now

Get access to this and every other article in the

Web and in our app for 4 weeks free of charge.

Further

.
source site