"Globally we see somewhere around 4-5 percent of downstream rolled aluminium growth," Novelis Chief Executive Steve Fisher told Reuters in Seoul.

"That varies region to region, product to product, but that's kind of an overall growth rate that we see for aluminium through 2017," Fisher said.

In Asia, aluminium demand for both automobiles and cans is expected to grow faster than the rest of the world due to population growth and increasing environmental awareness.

"Cans could grow 5 to 6 percent in Asia, South East Asia will be 7 to 8 percent, but automotive 20 to 25 percent," said Sachin Saptute, President of Novelis Asia.

"I can tell you if electric vehicles come ... it will be exponential," Saptute said.U.S.-based Novelis supplies aluminium to automakers such as Jaguar Land Rover [TAMOJL.UL] and to drinks makers like Coca-Cola.

Global aluminium makers have been boosting their capacity to meet rising demand from automakers looking for lighter alloys to replace high-strength steel and to use in electric vehicles.

"(For electric vehicles) the critical element is miles or kilometre per charge," said Saptute, adding that lighter weight components are crucial to making power charges last longer.

"For that aluminium is a perfect solution," he said.

Fisher said he expected competition with Chinese producers to be "very fierce" over the next five to 10 years in high-value-added aluminium sectors such as aerospace and automotive, which have so far been dominated by European and U.S. aluminium manufacturers.

"Certainly (Chinese aluminium makers) will be able to produce high quality products as well," he said.

At end-August, in the midst of a trade dispute, Zhongwang USA LLC said it would buy U.S. aluminium company Aleris Corp , marking the biggest entry by a Chinese company into the U.S. aluminium industry. [nL3N1BA3OP]

Asked about premiums on primary aluminium for next year, the Novelis chief said they should remain near current levels.

"We don't see what would drive them to move up significantly again as we saw a few years back," he said.

Fourth-quarter premiums in Japan were set at $75 a tonne, down 17-19 percent from the previous quarter and touching a seven-year low amid a supply glut. [nL3N1C61S3]

(Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Tom Hogue)

By Jane Chung