Aluminum has made significant inroads into copper's share of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning market in recent years, to the point where it now has a dominant position in the North American indoor coil sector, Chuck Force, vice president - people and procurement, at US aluminum heat transfer components manufacturer Brazeway, said Monday.
Around the last five years, aluminum has made "significant" gains in the indoor coil market, with about 85% of the market transitioning to all-aluminum construction, Force told the Platts Aluminum Symposium in Miami.
The situation in the outdoor coil market is slightly different, with around 20% of the market transitioning to aluminum, he added.
A key supportive factor for the switch to aluminum in recent years has been the price spread between copper and aluminum, he said.
"A lot of people watch copper, a lot of people watch aluminum -- we watch the delta," he said.
Based on London Metal Exchange cash settlement prices Monday, copper at $7,180/mt was more than three times the cost of aluminum, which stood at $2,227.50/mt.
"We like to see that nice differential," Force said, adding: "To date it has been fairly good and we have been seeing some significant activity."
Possible headwinds hampering aluminum consumption in the HVAC market include uncertainty generated by the current NAFTA renegotiations, limited availability of aluminum fins and labor constraints, Force noted.
