Exclusive interviews from aluminium industry experts
Gain firsthand insights into market developments, innovations, sustainability initiatives, and industry trends.
Top Stories
Power cost of EUR 600 vs EUR 1,800 per tonne: How electricity prices are reshaping Europe’s aluminium industry (Part 1)
How much does it really cost to produce aluminium in Europe, and can the region’s smelters compete with producers in the US and China? Beyond electricity prices, the economics of primary and recycled aluminium, industrial electrification and changing automotive demand are shaping the future of Europe’s aluminium industry. In this exclusive interview with AL Circle, Dr Martin Iffert, Founder and CEO of Martin Iffert Consulting, examines these challenges, discussing smelter economics, recycling competitiveness and the outlook for Europe’s 2040 electrification vision. He also shares his views on Germany’s production landscape and the investments needed to improve productivity and strengthen the aluminium value chain. Dr Iffert brings over 30 years of industry experience. He served as CEO of...
Inside Novelis’ 2030 strategy: Aligning scrap supply, recycling investment and new opportunities in aluminium markets
The AL Circle team caught up with Michael Hahne, Vice President Commercial, Novelis Europe, for a conversation at ALUMINIUM 2026 in Düsseldorf, Germany. With experience across the company’s automotive and beverage can businesses, Hahne brings a commercial perspective to the evolving relationship between aluminium, customer needs and circularity. In this exclusive interview, Hahne explains why aluminium’s next growth chapter will depend on more than expanding production. Securing scrap, closing material loops and turning metallurgical expertise into new customer solutions are becoming central to the industry’s competitiveness. As automotive lightweighting, battery applications and circularity reshape demand, he discusses the strategies behind Novelis’ global footprint and the challenges of...
Grow with
AL Circle
Events
Interviews
VIEW MORE
Carbon, competitiveness and credibility: Gangaa C Sharma on aluminium’s next challenge
Mr Gangaa C Sharma, an international professional with over 30 plus years of experience in management advisory and assessments and Managing Director & CEO of CETIZION Verifica Pvt Ltd. He is also former Board member of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), was approached by AL Circle for his insights into the aluminium industry’s evolving sustainability priorities. He highlighted the growing influence of sustainability on business continuity, profitability and global competitiveness. As supply-chain disruptions and carbon regulations poses new challenges to the industry, Mr Sharma explores significance of emissions data credibility and limitations of downstream producers for precursor emission performance. He also draws attention to a...
Beyond aluminium smelting capacity, we propose to incentivise emissions cuts to support wider decarbonisation: Ed Boyd, Mission Possible Partnership
As the European Council seeks political alignment on the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), the debate over how to accelerate aluminium decarbonisation in bringing emissions accounting and demand for low-carbon metal into focus. Against the backdrop of Mission Possible Partnership’s (MPP) open letter, AL Circle speaks with Ed Boyd, MPP’s Global Policy Lead, about the policies needed to support the European aluminium industry’s transition. Boyd argues that effective decarbonisation must account for emissions from alumina refining and track Scope 2 emissions associated with purchased electricity. On mandatory green procurement and lead-market thresholds of at least 50 per cent for aluminium, he says producers are ready to supply low-carbon metal at scale and considers the proposed threshold...
EU-India FTA, CBAM and carbon costs: Can Indian aluminium crack the European market?
A former Deputy Secretary General of the European Parliament and Director of the EPP Group, Paolo Licandro, has extensive experience in European policymaking, international relations, industry, energy and EU affairs. He is currently the Founder and CEO of eEuropa Belgium and Editor of eEuropa.Blog. He has worked with European prime ministers, ministers and EU commissioners and has held senior roles covering EU enlargement, Mediterranean and Middle East relations, and industry, research and energy. A nuclear engineer, he holds a master’s degree from Politecnico di Milano and has worked with ENI, ARS-Pragma and the EU Joint Research Centre. In this interview, Paolo Licandro shares his perspective on EU–India aluminium trade, CBAM and the opportunities for Indian producers in Europe. AL...
There is real tightness of aluminium in Europe, but it is a supply shock rather than a CBAM-driven deficit
Europe’s aluminium market is navigating a new carbon-cost reality as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) enters its definitive phase. Since 1 January 2026, the policy has brought fresh questions over import costs, domestic versus imported aluminium pricing, low-carbon premiums and changing procurement strategies. In search of these answers, AL Circle has engaged in a candid conversation with Nick Ogilvie, CBAM Lead at CarbonChain, in which he has unpacked how these dynamics are playing out in the market. He explains that while CBAM is designed to close the carbon-cost gap between EU-produced and imported aluminium on direct emissions, its pricing impact remains relatively modest. According to Ogilvie, the current tightness in European aluminium supply is being driven far...
5083 aluminium holds durable growth potential, but real demand will hinge on marine, transport and defence programmes
In an interview with AL Circle, Rafael Suchan, CEO and co-founder of Metycle, a vertically integrated secondary metals company headquartered in Cologne, Germany, has shared his thoughts on the European Union’s aluminium scrap sourcing strategy and the demand trends of scrap grades. According to Rafael, the EU must aim for more scrap sourcing options since the bloc’s tighter non-OECD waste-export rules may lead to scrap material leaving Europe. Regarding aluminium scrap grades in demand, UBC scrap, clean extrusion scrap and segregated sheet are the highest consuming grades. Upon asking about the growth opportunities of 5083 high-magnesium aluminium alloys, he further said the pace will follow actual marine, transport and defence programmes. Before co-founding Metycle, Rafael Suchan served...
“We would not describe Europe as undergoing a uniform deindustrialisation”: Norbert Bürger on Europe’s aluminium industry
Norbert Bürger brings more than 30 years of experience in the global aluminium industry, with a career spanning Austria, Germany, Hungary, Japan and the United States. His expertise covers aluminium rolling and extrusion, plant management, sales, strategy, investments and M&A, with senior roles at AMAG, Pankl and Alcoa. Today, Bürger is a founding partner of Lightmet Consulting, a Vienna-based independent consultancy focused on the aluminium industry. Led by Bürger and Markus Plakolm, Lightmet brings together eight senior partners with technical, operational and commercial expertise across the aluminium value chain. The firm advises aluminium companies on strategy, operational excellence, investment projects, feasibility studies, M&A, recycling, sustainability and digitalisation. In this...
Featured News
Business Leads
VIEW ON AL BIZ
Want to feature your reports and magazines?
Know More
Blog
LATEST POSTS
Turn marketplace visibility into more relevant buyer enquiries.
View Priority Plans
Turn marketplace visibility into more relevant buyer enquiries.
View Priority Plans
