Primary aluminium production in Western and Central Europe rises 2.18% M-o-M in May, skidding 12.5% Q-o-Q

According to the statistics provided by International Aluminium Institute (IAI), Western and Central Europe produced almost 229,000 tonnes of primary aluminium in May 2023, up 5,000 tonnes from 224,000 tonnes generated in April 2023. This indicates a Month-on-Month increase of 2.18 per cent.

Western and Central Europe mainly consists of regions like France, Germany, Greece, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. With the world becoming more sustainable, primary aluminium production lines are not busy as usual, while the aluminium recycling sector is seeing a wideset bloom. Sustainability initiatives are on the rise, which explains why the primary production rate is getting lower.

Moreover, the looming energy and economic crisis in European sectors are proving to be harmful to the entire aluminium value chain. Anyhow these regions have slowly started investing in renewable energy and big brands like Hydro are adopting innumerable ways to curtail individual carbon emissions. 

Last year, May experienced a primary production haul of 250,000 tonnes, while April 2022 witnessed a similar 224,000 tonnes of primary aluminium production this year. It can be said that May 2023 has dropped almost 8.4 per cent from the previous year’s marked price of the same period.

During the first quarter of 2022, the total aluminium production was 745,000 tonnes, which fell by 76,000 tonnes compared with the first quarter of 2023, when it stood at 669,000 tonnes. Therefore, the Quarter-on-Quarter fall has been almost 10.20 per cent.

In 2021, the total primary aluminium production in Western and Central Europe had been 3,32,9000 tonnes which slumped by 4,06,000 tonnes to 2,91,3000 tonnes in 2022, recording a Year-on-Year drop of 12.5 per cent, as was cited by IAI.