The Brussels-based European Recycling Industries' Confederation (EuRIC) has voiced strong opposition to a proposed ban on recycled aluminium exports from the EU. On the flip side, several other European industry groups are pushing for tighter controls, citing growing concerns over aluminium scrap leakage. What's fueling this split in opinion?.
The recycling organisation, amidst the rising demand for safeguard measures urged by the majority of the EU scrap exporters, have enunciated that the low aluminium scrap export volume indicates a restriction to the trade, providing no solution for the trade and energy concerns of the aluminium producers in the EU.
Owing to the previous messages of the European aluminium producers and organisations, the association states that it is deceiving, as it does not revert back to the concerns or the interests of the aluminium recyclers in the EU.
EuRIC further delves into the report collected from the Eurostat agency in 2024, the EU imported a total of 43,000 tonnes of recycled aluminium from the US, where they exported just about 9,300 tonnes in the same year to the other nations.
Trade imbalance brought to the notice
EURIC has brought to our notice that the European Union’s aluminium scrap imports from the US have always been higher than its exports. In 2022, the European Union exported a total of 4,391 tonnes of aluminium scrap to the US. In the following year, the export rose by 100.97 per cent, reaching 8,817 tonnes. In 2024, the US imported a total of 10,981 tonnes of aluminium scrap from the EU, representing a hike of 24.54 per cent.
On the other hand, the EU has imported a total of 56,666 tonnes of aluminium scrap from the US in 2022. In the subsequent year, the EU imported a total of 46,635 tonnes of aluminium scrap from the US, representing a fall of 17.70 per cent. In 2024, the EU imported a total of 48,885 tonnes of aluminium scrap from the US, showing a rise of per cent. If the imports of the aluminium scrap from the US are higher than the exports, the urge of EuRIC should not be overlooked.
Additionally, the organisation has also acknowledged that the aluminium producers, previously, in 2022 and 2023, have shut down nearly half of the EU's primary aluminium plants due to the rising energy prices. Alongside this, in 2023, the majority of the aluminium demand domestically was fed by importing it from other countries with major carbon-intensive energy mixes, contravening the EU's low-emissions targets.
EuRIC has stated, "Restrictions and limitations on the trade of recycled aluminium will not solve these problems. Most traded recycled aluminium grades are being exported because of insufficient allocation on the EU's market."
EU’s aluminium scrap exports to Asia - is it a leakage concern?
Apart from the US, the EU also exports aluminium scrap to Asian countries like China, India, Vietnam and Japan. Exports to all these countries have also been increasing over the past years. According to the data shown by Trading Economics, China imported a total of USD 108 million worth of aluminium scrap from the EU in 2022. In the following year, the import rose to USD 141 million, representing a rise of 30.55 per cent. Again, in 2024, the import further surged to USD 148 million, which represents a rise of 4.96 per cent.
India, on the other hand, imported a total of USD 527 million worth of aluminium scrap from the US in 2022. In the following year, the same stood at USD 560 million, showing an increase of 6.26 per cent. The number further rose in 2024, where the total import was determined to be USD 632 million, which again indicates a surge by 11.39 per cent.
Vietnam imported aluminium scrap totalling USD 16.05 million from the EU in 2022, which in the subsequent year rose to USD 36.55 million, marking an increase of 127.72 per cent. In 2024, Vietnam imported USD 38.95 million worth of aluminium scrap from the EU, up by 6.16 per cent from the previous year.
To Japan, the EU exported aluminium scrap worth USD 11.22 million in 2022. In the subsequent year, the export rose to USD 15.58 million, reflecting a surge of 38.86 per cent in 2023. Again, in 2024, the export value grew by 52.17 per cent, amounting to USD 23.46 million.
As the above data shows, the European Union exports substantial aluminium scrap to Asia - could this be another source of concern for scrap leakage? Kelly Roegies in an interview with AL Circle also pointed out that even before the latest US tariff hike, Europe was already losing scrap at record rates to countries (e.g. in Asia) benefiting from unfair competitive advantage (e.g. lower labour, energy, or environmental standards and non-market investments).
She explained the current tariff gap has further boosted US demand for scrap and has widened a price arbitrage that incentivises direct scrap exports to the US and additional EU scrap outflows to Asia, as Asian producers redirect sourcing away from the now less attractive US market.
Kelly Roegies revealed that the EU aluminium scrap exports rose by 10 per cent in Q1 2025, with exports to Asia growing even faster e.g. India +22 per cent, Thailand +28 per cent, China +54 per cent.
Hence, not only to the United States, but the increasing exports to the Asian countries are raising concerns about scrap leakage from the EU. So, export bans only to the United States are unlikely to stop excessive outflows of scrap from the European Union.
