Brazilian output of semi-manufactured aluminum products rose 14.2 percent to 891,300 tonnes in 2004, the Brazilian Aluminum Association (ABAL) said on Monday. The surge in production outstripped the increase in Brazil's industrial output, according to the Brazilian Economic and Statistical Institute. In a statement, ABAL said that export demand rose as well as domestic consumption.

"In 2004 there was a solid increase in exports of aluminum products -- sheets, foils, profiles -- with greater added value," Luis Carlos Loureira Filho, ABAL's statistics co-ordinator said in a statement.

Aluminum products are widely used in the construction, automobile and packaging sectors.

Copyright Reuters, 2005