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E C O N O MICS<br />
sion of its high-speed rail network, to un<strong>de</strong>rstand<br />
why there have been so many or<strong>de</strong>rs<br />
from China for large aluminium extrusion<br />
presses.<br />
For many <strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>s to come the <strong>de</strong>mand<br />
for aluminium will not be able to be covered<br />
by the return flow of end-of-life scrap alone.<br />
At best, that will cope with a good third of<br />
Advertisement<br />
the requirements. Nothing will change in that<br />
respect so long as the global <strong>de</strong>mand for aluminium<br />
continues growing more rapidly than<br />
the return flow of aluminium scrap. Thus, for<br />
the extension of recycling systems it is immaterial<br />
how large a proportion of recycled material<br />
there is in a particular product. So long<br />
as the aluminium <strong>de</strong>mand remains larger than<br />
the recycling pool from which that <strong>de</strong>mand<br />
can be satisfied, aluminium will always find a<br />
use, if not for product A, then for product B.<br />
Much more important is the question of<br />
where the massively exten<strong>de</strong>d recycling capacities<br />
will get their input from in a few years.<br />
For a <strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong> Europe has been a net exporter<br />
of aluminium scrap. In 2011 alone, almost a<br />
million tonnes of aluminium scrap (955,285 t)<br />
were exported to third countries, while imports<br />
from third countries amounted to<br />
around 40 percent of that quantity (378,214 t).<br />
So the outflow of aluminium scrap from Europe<br />
amounted to 577,071 tonnes. Since 2001<br />
Europe has never been a net importer of aluminium<br />
scrap and over the period since then<br />
a total of 4.7 million tonnes have flowed out.<br />
That is: 4.7 million tonnes of valuable raw ma-<br />
terial, collected with much cost and effort, and<br />
in which approx. 66 million megawatts of energy<br />
are stored: an amount of energy with which<br />
a big city like Munich in Germany could be<br />
supplied with power for almost nine years.<br />
Securing domestic urban raw materials<br />
This largely unimpe<strong>de</strong>d outflow of urban raw<br />
materials from the EU is all the more un<strong>de</strong>sirable<br />
in that the European Union regards itself<br />
as leading the way internationally in the<br />
field of climate policy. On the other hand<br />
countries such as Russia and the Ukraine,<br />
which were previously important raw material<br />
sources for Europe’s recycling industry,<br />
have put up export barriers – export duties<br />
or export bans – on scrap. And China, the<br />
world’s largest importer of aluminium scrap,<br />
has put up numerous tra<strong>de</strong> barriers thanks to<br />
which Chinese scrap buyers can pay higher<br />
prices than European remelters.<br />
Free world tra<strong>de</strong> and open markets require<br />
economic <strong>de</strong>velopment, and this in a world<br />
which is ever more strongly interlinked. But<br />
free tra<strong>de</strong> must take place in accordance<br />
with clear rules that apply equally to all. In<br />
that respect Europe would be well advised, in<br />
light of its own scarcity of geo-raw-materials<br />
and its <strong>de</strong>manding climate policy targets, to<br />
campaign for a level playing field that ensures<br />
fair tra<strong>de</strong> with urban raw material sources.<br />
Summary<br />
aluminium plants & machinery<br />
Marketing & Sale of<br />
Used Machinery & Plants<br />
www.alteco.at<br />
In contrast to many non-metallic raw materials,<br />
aluminium can always be remelted without<br />
loss of quality and processed to make new<br />
products. It is outdated to draw a distinction<br />
between primary and secondary aluminium,<br />
that is aluminium produced from ores or from<br />
scrap. Already today metal melted from scrap<br />
is often mixed with smelted metal because it<br />
contains important<br />
alloying elements.<br />
Thus, urban raw materials<br />
are gaining in<br />
importance for the<br />
MELTING & CASTING<br />
EXTRUSION<br />
ROLLING<br />
FOIL ROLLING<br />
FOIL CONVERSION<br />
ALTECO <strong>Alu</strong>miniumtechnolgie Vertriebs u. Consulting GmbH<br />
Bogendorf 5, A-5145 Neukirchen, Austria<br />
Tel. +43(7729)2871-0 Fax: +43(7729)28714 Email: office@alteco.at<br />
raw materials supply<br />
and security of<br />
our economy.<br />
Author<br />
Christian Wellner is<br />
the executive director<br />
of the GDA (German<br />
Association of the<br />
<strong>Alu</strong>minium Industry),<br />
located in Düsseldorf.<br />
Seit<strong>de</strong>m flossen unterm Strich 4,7 Millionen<br />
Tonnen aus Europa ab. 4,7 Millionen Tonnen<br />
wertvoller urbaner Rohstoffe, die mit hohem<br />
Aufwand gesammelt wur<strong>de</strong>n und in <strong>de</strong>nen<br />
rund 66 Millionen Megawattstun<strong>de</strong>n Energie<br />
gespeichert sind. Eine Energiemenge, mit <strong>de</strong>r<br />
die Stadt München fast neun Jahre lang mit<br />
Strom versorgt wer<strong>de</strong>n könnte.<br />
Heimische urbane Rohstoffe sichern<br />
Dieser weitgehend ungehin<strong>de</strong>rte Abfluss an<br />
urbanen Rohstoffen aus <strong>de</strong>r EU ist umso ärgerlicher,<br />
als die Europäische Union sich als<br />
internationaler Vorreiter in <strong>de</strong>r Klimapolitik<br />
sieht. Auf <strong>de</strong>r an<strong>de</strong>ren Seite haben Län<strong>de</strong>r<br />
wie Russland und die Ukraine, die früher<br />
einmal wichtige Rohstoffquellen für die europäische<br />
<strong>Alu</strong>miniumrecyclingindustrie waren,<br />
Exportschranken – Exportzölle bzw. Exportverbote<br />
– auf Schrott errichtet. Und China,<br />
<strong>de</strong>r weltweit größte Importeur von <strong>Alu</strong>miniumschrott,<br />
hat zahlreiche Han<strong>de</strong>lsbarrieren<br />
aufgebaut, dank <strong>de</strong>rer chinesische Schrottaufkäufer<br />
einen höheren Schrottpreis zahlen<br />
können als europäische Umschmelzer.<br />
Freier Welthan<strong>de</strong>l und offene Märkte för<strong>de</strong>rn<br />
die Entwicklung von Volkswirtschaften,<br />
erst recht in einer Welt, die immer stärker<br />
vernetzt ist. Freier Han<strong>de</strong>l muss aber nach<br />
klaren und für alle gleichen Spielregeln erfolgen.<br />
Han<strong>de</strong>lsbarrieren wie ange<strong>de</strong>utet wi<strong>de</strong>rsprechen<br />
diesen Spielregeln. Hier ist Europa<br />
gut beraten, sich angesichts knapper eigener<br />
Geo-Rohstoffe und anspruchsvoller klimapolitischer<br />
Zielsetzungen für ein Level Playing<br />
Field einzusetzen, das einen fairen Han<strong>de</strong>l<br />
mit urbanen Rohstoffquellen garantiert.<br />
Fazit<br />
Im Gegensatz zu manchen nicht-metallischen<br />
Rohstoffen lässt sich <strong>Alu</strong>minium ohne Qualitätsverlust<br />
immer wie<strong>de</strong>r aufs Neue einschmelzen<br />
und zu neuen hochwertigen Produkten<br />
verarbeiten. Eine Unterscheidung<br />
zwischen Primär- und Sekundäraluminium,<br />
aus Erzen o<strong>de</strong>r aus Schrotten erzeugtem<br />
<strong>Alu</strong>minium, ist überholt. Bereits heute wird<br />
<strong>de</strong>m Hüttenmetall oft aus Schrotten erschmolzenes<br />
Metall beigefügt, weil sie wichtige Legierungselemente<br />
enthalten. Urbane Rohstoffquellen<br />
gewinnen daher eine wachsen<strong>de</strong><br />
Be<strong>de</strong>utung für die Rohstoffversorgung und<br />
-sicherheit unserer Volkswirtschaft.<br />
Autor<br />
Christian Wellner ist Geschäftsführer <strong>de</strong>s Gesamtverban<strong>de</strong>s<br />
<strong>de</strong>r <strong>Alu</strong>miniumindustrie e.V. mit Sitz in<br />
Düsseldorf.<br />
ALUMINIUM · 3/2013 21