SOURCES · LICENCES · CALCULATIONS
Where each figure on the dashboard comes from, how often it is updated and how it is calculated.
Official data and identified sources · Last sync:
Each figure shows its period (the month or day it refers to), the date we updated it on aluminio.ar and its source. They are two different things: September aluminium is published by the World Bank in early October, and the dashboard shows it as “SEP 2026” even if it was synced yesterday.
Changes always state their reference: m/m (vs the previous month), y/y (vs the same month a year earlier), 30 days or year to date. Arrows and signs go with the colours: they never depend on colour alone.
“Today, in 30 seconds” is built with fixed rules, without artificial intelligence: aluminium and the dollar are “up” or “down” if they changed by more than 1% and 2%; construction, industry and activity are “expanding” or “contracting” if their year-on-year change exceeds +2% or −2%.
| Source | What is used | Type | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank | Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet) | Official spreadsheet (Excel) | CC BY 4.0 |
| BCRA | Monetary statistics API v4.0 | Official API | Public information, with attribution |
| INDEC | Official series through the Time Series API (datos.gob.ar) | API Series de Tiempo | CC BY 4.0 |
| INDEC | Official tables (CSV and Excel) | Official file | Free use with attribution (Law 17,622) |
| INDEC | Foreign trade in goods database | Official database (monthly CSV) | Free use with attribution; statistical confidentiality applies |
| Ministry of Economy | Manufacturing production indicators (datos.gob.ar) | API Series de Tiempo | CC BY 4.0 |
| Aluar | Company website | Manually verified figure | Figure published by the company, quoted |
Order of preference: 1) the agency’s official API; 2) the government Time Series API (datos.gob.ar); 3) the official structured file (CSV or Excel); 4) a manually verified figure, such as Aluar’s capacity. PDFs are never read automatically.
Price of primary aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME), cash, monthly average in dollars per tonne. It is the world benchmark for the metal: ingot prices are formed from it and, adding a premium and processing, those of products.
Wholesale market reference exchange rate calculated by the BCRA (Communication A 3500). It is the dollar used by companies and foreign trade: aluminium is priced in dollars.
Average of what banks charge to sell dollars, calculated by the BCRA (Communication B 9791). It is the reference rate for individuals; each bank sets its own.
Synthetic indicator of construction activity: it measures the use of building inputs. When it grows, demand for windows, façades and aluminium profiles grows.
INDEC manufacturing production index. Industry uses aluminium in machinery, vehicles, packaging and equipment: its activity anticipates demand.
Change in the consumer price index, national general level. It lets you compare peso prices from different months.
Monthly economic activity estimator: the monthly preview of GDP. It shows whether the economy as a whole is growing or shrinking.
How much of its production capacity industry used in the month. With more capacity in use, investments and expansions become more likely.
Capacity use in basic metal industries: steel and primary aluminium, among others. It is the sector that includes primary aluminium production.
Capacity use in metalworking, excluding the automotive industry. It includes many of the businesses that process profiles and sheet.
Capacity use in the automotive industry. Vehicles use more and more aluminium.
Output of the basic metal industries (manufacturing IPI, division). It includes primary aluminium and steel production.
Output of metal products: structures, metal joinery, containers, parts. It is the industry closest to those who work with profiles.
Output of machinery and equipment (manufacturing IPI, division): the core of metalworking. It shows how metalworking, a big user of profiles and parts, is doing.
Output of motor vehicles, bodies, trailers and parts (manufacturing IPI). Aluminium makes vehicles lighter: bodies, wheels, heat exchangers.
INDEC construction cost index (Greater Buenos Aires): materials, labour and overheads. It is used to update construction budgets and contracts.
Floor area authorised by private building permits in 246 municipalities. It anticipates the building work of the coming months: what is permitted today is built tomorrow.
Tonnes of primary aluminium produced in the country in the month, according to the Ministry of Economy (based on INDEC, other official bodies and industry chambers). In Argentina, primary aluminium is produced by Aluar in Puerto Madryn: it is the raw material for profiles.
Argentine exports of chapter 76 of the Mercosur nomenclature (aluminium and articles thereof), FOB value. It shows how much aluminium leaves the country and where it goes.
Argentine imports of chapter 76 of the Mercosur nomenclature, CIF value (as INDEC reports them). Imported sheet, foil and profiles compete with or supply local production.
Copper price (LME), monthly average. It competes with aluminium in cables, heat exchangers and conductors.
Zinc price (LME), monthly average. Another benchmark non-ferrous metal for industry.
Nickel price (LME), monthly average. Key for stainless steel, another aluminium competitor.
The system checks the sources four times a day and keeps the last good figure from each one. Monthly sources are not requested more often than needed: foreign trade is only downloaded when INDEC changes its file, and the INDEC calendar is read twice a day.
Each figure has a status based on its frequency and release calendar: “Up to date” (it is the latest published), “New figure due” (the next one comes out in the coming days), “Delayed” (the source should already have published it), “Out of date” (two or more are missing) and “Temporarily unavailable”. If a source does not respond, the last saved figure is shown marked “Latest available figure”.
The World Bank and datos.gob.ar publish under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence: the data can be reused with attribution, as the dashboard does for each figure. The BCRA and INDEC publish public information free to use with attribution. Aluar: the figure is quoted as published on its website. aluminio.ar CSV files include each series’ source and licence.
Agencies revise their data (INDEC corrects previous months, for example). The dashboard always uses the current version and records how many periods changed. It never corrects an official figure by hand: if a new figure fails the checks (type, range, dates, unit), the previous one is kept and flagged for review.
Found an error? Write to info@aluminio.ar.