November 21, 2022 — Aluminium Association

Ilya Kulikov, Aluminium Association’s expert on aluminium consumption in the cable industry, said this on RusCable.Ru. In a conversation with presenters Sergey Kuzminov (RusCable.Ru) and Evgenia Amelekhina (Kabel.FM), he said that a total of 17.5 million square metres of housing is currently being built and designed using 8xxx series aluminium alloy cable.

It wasn’t always like this. The widespread introduction of aluminium wiring in residential and office buildings was preceded by a lot of painstaking work and the so-called ‘design’ years: 2020–2021. Today, this work continues: catalogues of aluminium cable products are produced, and workshops and events are held with representatives of cable mills, the Aluminium Association and end consumers.

The expert drew attention to the change in the modern approach to the sale of real estate: a new flat of comfort class in the mass segment is no longer a bare concrete wall, but a room with a quality finish. A significant factor influencing the choice of consumers in favour of aluminium wiring was the appearance on the market of versatile electrical installation products — sockets and switches. Today, the consumer does not care so much about the type of cable as about the colour and shape of the sockets, Ilya Kulikov noted. At the same time, 80% of consumers vote for design solutions.

However, there are examples of following ingrained stereotypes when choosing one cable or another. In the oil and gas industry, for example, regulations allow both aluminium and copper. And in the past, the choice was predominantly in favour of copper, because it was more familiar. But a few years ago, the situation began to change, and in the current realities the transition to aluminium has accelerated. Oil and gas companies are now seeking to refocus infrastructure projects as quickly as possible on South-East Asia, where the main construction projects will be concentrated in the next few years. This begs the question — how to save money? According to Ilya Kulikov, switching to aluminium cables provides savings of 20 to 70%.

This factor is taken into account in the design of future projects. However, the expert stressed that aluminium will not completely displace copper — it will be used where it is feasible and economically viable. Speaking about promising projects, RusCable.Ru’s guest noted that in the future, factors such as price and scarcity will determine the volume of metal consumption. In the end, the consumer wins.

A full version of the broadcast can be accessed by clicking here.