EN 
PT_BR 
Aluminum, an input widely used in the solar energy sector to manufacture photovoltaic panel fixing structures, saw an increase in price of 24% between April and November this year. This is what the LME (London Metal Exchange), world center for the trade of industrial metals.
According to the platform, which serves as a consultation for all companies that deal with the purchase and sale of raw materials, on April 1st the price of the material was U$ 1,463.50, while on November 1st it was at U$ 1,820.50.
Experts consulted by Solar Channel, point out that growing demand and the recent rise in the dollar contributed to this price increase.
Furthermore, they commented that this increase is responsible for directly impacting changes in the final cost of products sold by companies in the solar sector.
According to SolarGroup, the company has been negotiating intensively with suppliers in order to minimize impacts on the final cost of products sold by the company.
“Considering the LME projection for 2021, the expectation of an increase in the price of raw materials is around 10% throughout the year. If this scenario confirms, Solar Group will make every effort to absorb this increase and not change its commercial conditions”, highlighted Pablo Larrieux, Marketing Director at Solar Group.
Roberto Caurim, CEO of Bluesun, stated in an interview with Canal Solar that the increase in the price of aluminum impacts the production of photovoltaic structures.
“Last month we closed almost 62 tons of aluminum structures with the Fotofix. They were only able to deliver it to us because they have a contract with CBA (Brazilian Aluminum Company) otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do it”, reported Caurim.
For Júlio Tavernaro, commercial manager at Spin, this variation is a historical factor. The executive also commented that the rise in the price of aluminum is due to the cold period, present in the main foreign countries, suppliers of the raw material.
“European countries, Russia and the USA, for example, are currently in winter, where energy costs tend to rise, leading to a global impact on this. As a result, there is an increase in the LME and an increase in indexes that make up the cost of aluminum”, he highlighted.
