Hydro chief executive urges for sanctions on Russian aluminium in EU, US

On October 24, 2022, Hilde Merete Aasheim, the President and CEO of the Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro called on the United States and the European Union to halt importing Russian aluminium onto their territories.

According to the Hydro chief, around half of Europe's primary aluminium production has been cut down due to the soaring energy costs following the Ukraine-Russian geopolitical crisis, and adversely, Russian aluminium production remained unaffected. Russia's sole primary aluminium producer, Rusal, produces around 6% of the world's aluminium. However, this metal has not been targeted by Western sanctions against Russia following the border crisis with Ukraine.

The CEO said, "We want to urge sanctions in Europe and the US. Our European industry shuts down, while ... we see Russian production at the same level as before the invasion. So they are benefiting."

The Norwegian house manufactures mass aluminium in Europe, Qatar, Brazil and Canada. Moreover, it has no production business in Russia and stopped trading in Russian aluminium following the geopolitical crisis.

On the contrary, the Joe Biden administration is considering restrictions on Russian aluminium imports. The world's largest metal trading hub, the London Metal Exchange (LME), asks its members if it should ban Russian metal from its trading platform.

Aasheim said, "Without sanctions against Russian imports, the future of European production would be at risk because Europe's producers, facing soaring energy costs, would be unable to compete against Russian rivals."

"It is an energy-intensive business, and when the gas has been cut from Russia, we see the effect on the power prices, so what is important over time is to get in more renewable power."

Aasheim's comments echoed its US peer Alcoa, urging the White House to block US metal imports from Russia. However, with the recession taking shape, some business groups say bans on Russian aluminium might wipe out many European industries.