What is the importance of the aluminum industry to the Brazilian economy?
Aluminum and its by-products play an important economic role in Brazil. National production of the primary metal is the sixth largest in the world and in 2006 this production represented 1.1% of GDP and 4.3% of the industrial GDP, contributing with 3.1% of the exports in the trade balance, according to data from the Brazilian Aluminum Association (ABAL). The aluminum sector is also important when it comes to generating employment, with 58,200 direct jobs in 2006. This performance is due to the fact that aluminum is the main input in a vast list of consumer goods in modern society. Use of the metal on a commercial scale started with the discovery of the metallurgical process by electrolysis (oxy-reduction reaction caused by an electric current) in 1986. It is used in everything from domestic utensils, like cooking pans, one of the first applications of the metal, to the aerospace and naval industry. The aeronautical industry is a major aluminum consumer (the metal makes up nearly 65% of
