Aluminium must be a part of the strategic raw materials list, says Vice-Chair of INTA

Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, the vice-chair of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee (INTA), pointed out that removing aluminium from the EU's list of strategic raw resources by the European Commission is highly unacceptable.

Strategic raw materials like solar panels, electric batteries, heat pumps, and wind turbines are vital for the critical industries of the future and also an essential element to achieving the Net-Zero goals. And aluminium is a crucial component in all of these businesses and in the manufacture of electric cars in general. For example, aluminium accounts for 85 per cent of the material composition of a solar panel.

Since 2010, the Commission has kept a list of Critical Raw Materials (CRM) to emphasise resources crucial to the EU's economy and value chains, yet are sensitive to supply disruptions for various reasons. Last month, the Commission introduced a Critical Raw Materials Act regulating this list. This is about progressing from issue identification to problem resolution. As part of this evolution, the Commission is now considering separating resources into two categories: critical raw materials and strategic raw materials.

Since the CRM Act's creation, it has been assumed that aluminium would be included on the list; nevertheless, due to a last-minute effort by some College Commission members, aluminium was omitted, although the approach for picking such items remains the same. The Commission has recently tried to explain that bauxite, a major raw material in aluminium production, is still on the list. 

Europe lost roughly 30% of its aluminium manufacturing capacity between 2008 and 2021. Furthermore, due to the surge in power costs caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, almost half of the manufacturing is offline.

"All this at the same time as global and European demand for aluminium is rising. A last-minute political decision to remove aluminium is unacceptable, and we should ensure that the original and methodology-led arguments that saw aluminium categorised as a strategic raw material prevail," exclaimed Anna-Michelle.

With plans for the restructuring of the EU's energy market already revealed, it is apparent that expanding renewables deployment via Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) is one of the top goals.

"As the European Parliament gets ready to work on the Critical Raw Materials Act, I am optimistic that we can use the opportunity to reinstate aluminium to its rightful place on the Strategic Raw Materials list," added Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou.

However, the Commission has additional measures to help Europe's aluminium sector. The most critical of these is addressing rising power rates. Greece has proposed aggregation methods for PPAs, or Greenpooling, mainly meant to assist energy-intensive companies in lowering the firming and profiling costs associated with renewable energy supply.

“It would be a significant tool to help electricity-intensive industries like aluminium and cement. This could happen right now, and the only thing standing in its way is the absence of a green light from DG Competition,” said Anna-Michelle focussing on Greenpooling.