Novelis Europe rules out Russian aluminium from metal supply tender 2024

At the London Metals Exchange industry gathering known as LME Week, Novelis Europe announced debarring Russian aluminium from its metal supply tender 2024. It is when the industry people – consumers, producers, and traders come together to buy and sell aluminium for 2024.

Emilio Braghi, executive vice president and president of Novelis Europe, said: "We are excluding Russian sources in our 2024 tender to supply aluminium to our Novelis plants in Europe"

Novelis currently buys some aluminium from Rusal under contracts signed before the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But since the geo-political war began, the former restrained itself from entering into new deals with the latter for aluminium, said Novelis' CEO in August.

"Novelis Europe has been fulfilling some remaining contractual obligations with Russian aluminium suppliers," said Braghi.

Currently, there are no sanctions against Rusal, but consumers are boycotting the company on their own. So is Novelis, the world's largest aluminium recycler with production and recycling operations across Europe.

Novelis mentioned at LME Week that there's a continuing increase in aluminium demand, driven by the shift from plastic to aluminium packaging.

"We continue to see a trend towards aluminium beverage packaging, especially (for) beer and carbonated soft drinks," Braghi said. "The popularity of energy drinks and ready-to-drink cocktails in cans is rising."

According to Braghi, electric vehicles and the aerospace sector are also driving aluminium sales as strong recovery continues after the COVID-related downturn.

In concern to aluminium production curtailment in Europe, Braghi said that it caused a shift to higher imports of the metal despite moderate demand situation.