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E c o n o M i c s
Sources: EAA, OEA, GTA
Fig. 5
The importance of aluminium recycling in EU
aluminium end­market in Europe.
This can be explained by the fact
that aluminium is lighter than other
more traditional materials, and helps
reduce energy consumption. Building
(27%) is still very important and is followed
by packaging (16%), engineering
(14%) and others (7%).
In younger economies, building
represents up to 80 percent of the
total.
In the US, packaging is much more
important (aluminium cans). However,
there is no doubt that the increase
in energy costs will boost the use of
aluminium in transportation in North
America.
primary industry is in serious danger
in the very short term because favourable
long term electricity contracts
are quickly coming to an end, and no
replacements are foreseen.
In Europe, the use of aluminium is
already more mature than the world
average. The industry and communities
are striving to maximise aluminium
collection rates, so almost 40
percent of the aluminium now used in
Europe comes from recycling. Recycling
is essential as it is the only way
to control Europe’s dependence on
imports.
As can be seen in Fig. 5, imports
are already very important. Most of
the imports into the EU­27 come from
Russia, Norway, Iceland, Mozambique,
the Middle East, South Africa
and Brazil.
EU aluminium scrap exports
Aluminium sector in EU-27
The markets in Europe are continuing
to develop. The downstream sector,
or transformation, is the cornerstone
of the EU­27 aluminium industry, but
all the parts of the value chain are essential
for harmonious growth of the
sector.
Fig. 7 shows that in the EU­27 employment
is much larger in the downstream
than in the upstream sector.
The figures show direct employment,
but it is well known that these figures
can be multiplied by a factor of 2.5 to
find the total employment generated.
This means 600,000­700,000 jobs are
involved.
European end-uses of aluminium
Transport (36%) is by far the largest
Rolled products
If the current economic crisis does
not have too great an influence on
the economy, demand for laminated
products is expected to grow at an average
rate of 2 to 3 percent annually
in the next few years.
Foil, the largest sector, is expanding
in terms of square metres but the thinner
gauges used are hampering weight
growth. Can stock, the raw material for
beverage cans, is doing well especially
due to market developments in eastern
European countries.
The fastest growing market segment
is the transport industry due to
aluminium’s light weight.
The aluminium industry is still
performing well, much better than in
2005 although not as well as in 2007,
which was a record year.
After many years of being a net importer
of aluminium scrap, the EU­27
had net exports of almost 800,000
tonnes in 2007 (Fig. 6). Most of it
(65%) went to China and Malaysia.
Many countries are raising trade
barriers in order to prevent aluminium
scrap exports. They see an
enormous potential to diminish their
electricity consumption with massive
scrap imports.
As the figure shows, aluminium
scrap is a strategic raw material for
Europe. However, nothing is being
done to avoid precious scrap being
exported, which begs the question:
Why?
Fig. 6
EU-27 aluminium scrap net - export (2000 to 2007)
Source: GTA
16 ALUMINIUM · 11/2008