According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the metal fabrication industry is projected to grow by 9% from 2016 to 2026. In turn, jobs will be opening as the demand increases for products. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the metal fabrication industry is projected to add 12,000 jobs to the sector over this decade. Globally, the sheet metal market is expanding at a continuous average growth rate of 4.09%. This growth is projected from 2018 to 2022, leading to (again) an increase in jobs. As of 2016, there were 138,900 sheet metal workers in the U.S. that contributed to an annual sheet metal revenue of more than $30 billion, a number sure to grow in the next decade. Supply and demand in the metal fabrication industry is increasing dramatically.
Integral to some of the tools of modern life from planes to cans, aluminum generates over $71 billion a year in the United States economy. So where does this revenue stem from? What are combined metals that drive the industry, and what product markets drive the supply and demand for aluminum or thin aluminum strips?
Some of the most popular product markets for aluminum is the automotive industry. 6061 aluminum is the best quality of aluminum for the construction of products in the automotive and transportation industries, from cars to motorcycles, buses, yachts, bikes, and more. As one of the largest grossing (and growing) industries, the automotive industry relies on aluminum and sheet metal products for manufacturing on a regular basis.
Aluminum is also used in a variety of common products for the manufacturing industry and consumers alike. Aerospace construction, cans, building and construction of towers/other buildings, electrical, electronics and appliances, and foil/packaging all rely on aluminum in their production lines.
As the most abundant naturally occurring metal on Earth (or literally in it), aluminum is an essential element of every day life for production lines, consumer products, and so much more. We don’t even realize the amount of products we use on a regular basis that use aluminum in them! Many of the conveniences we have, even something as simple as a dishwasher, rely on this metal. Think about how unsustainable our simple lives would be without it.
