Europe’s recycled aluminium industry is an important component of the global secondary aluminium supply chain, with Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom (UK) representing key national markets. Production across the European region stood at nearly 6 million tonnes in 2023, supported by established scrap recovery systems, industrial recycling capacity and demand for recycled metal. Russia also contributes to the regional landscape through secondary aluminium production units concentrated in several industrial centres. According to AL Circle’s analysis in its report, “ World Recycled ALuminium Market Analysis Industry Forecast ”, the four countries present different market structures, from Germany’s substantial recycling capacity and Italy’s scrap-based production to the UK’s organised...
According to SMM survey statistics, the operating rate of the secondary aluminium alloy industry in September was 35.0 per cent, up 3.1 percentage points M-o-M but down 6.7 percentage points Y-o-Y. Industry production continued its recovery trend, but the overall operating level remained below the same period last year. On the demand side, September marked the traditional peak consumption season, with downstream orders recovering from August. End-use demand from automobiles and other sectors improved marginally, but the peak season effect has yet to fully materialise. According to CAAM data, automobile production in September was 2.99 million units, up 11.4 per cent M-o-M but down 8.7 per cent Y-o-Y. NEV production was 1.814 million units, up 12.2 per cent Y-o-Y. CAAM noted that China's...
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European aluminium scrap prices have started rising in recent weeks as demand is increasing in the market tightened by limited supply due to the lack of fresh scrap generation over months of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Usage of scrap also fell but not as much as the generation of new scrap, as some manufacturers tried to maintain operations using raw material stocks in the initial phase of the pandemic. "There was no fresh generation of scrap for three to four months, but people continued to sell, export and use scrap material in that time," one alloy producer said. Demand for alloy and scrap is now growing as more and more manufacturers are recommencing their operations after lockdown restrictions across Europe, particularly from the crucial automotive industry. The United Kingdom...
The Scottish Government has earmarked £70 million to improve waste and recycling infrastructure. The investment is one of a number of initiatives planned to help increase recycling and build a circular economy. Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham is reminding everyone of the importance of recycling to Scotland’s green recovery. These include Deposit Return Scheme and the introduction of legislation to raise the minimum price of carrier bags from 5p to 10p. Deposit Return Scheme is likely to capture 90% of single-use aluminium and steel cans, glass and plastic bottles. Cunningham said: “Long-term initiatives to tackle our throwaway culture and encourage a circular economy - helping people to reduce, reuse and recycle – are vital to our green recovery and ensuring we end Scotland’s...
Alupro, the aluminium packaging recycling organisation, has announced its support to Recycle Week, which is being held from September 21-27. Recycle Week, organised by Recycle Now, will run under the banner ‘Together We Recycle’. It aims to celebrate household recycling through the COVID-19 pandemic. Rick Hindley, executive director of Alupro, commented: “2020 has been a hugely challenging year. It has, however, highlighted the changing perceptions and widespread determination of householders to recycle their packaging waste, alongside the sheer resilience of the waste management industry. “Since the start of the year, the UK’s aluminium recycling rates have continued to increase. It’s hugely positive to see such progress through kerbside, bring and on-the-go systems, as well as aluminium...
China has approved 121,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap imports in its 12 batch of quota this year, according to the China Solid Waste and Chemicals Management report. This brings China’s total approved amount of aluminium scrap import quotas to 818,000 tonnes so far this year. SMM estimates China’s aluminium scrap import quotas for the fourth quarter of the year to come in at 130,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes, much lower from Q3. In the 11 th batch of aluminium scrap import quotas, which was the 3 round of approval for Q3 2020, China permitted 2,610 tonnes. A secondary aluminium producer in Jiangsu province that uses imported aluminium scrap obtained 16,620 tonnes of import quotas in the 12 th batch, ranking the second. This brings its monthly average import quotas to around 5,540 tonnes,...
According to a Reuters report, Regal Metal announced it will construct a recycled aluminium project in Shanxi province. The plant will have an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes of secondary aluminium. The project worth 500 million yuan will be completed in two years with two phases of construction, according to a company statement. The production is likely to start in April 2021 in the first phase. The first phase of the project involves 100,000 tonnes of secondary aluminium capacity. The plant will manufacture recycled aluminium alloy ingots, high-performance magnesium alloy ingots and other projects. China’s Regal Metal’s project is part of revitalisation of old and abandoned assets, supported by the local government, and building of new assets. China produced 5.86 million tonnes of...
The success story of the new recycling line at the Sant’Antnin complex and the export of 6,550 tonnes of glass, the government, through WasteServ, prevails to show its determination at enhancing its recycling performance. An extensive recycling operation is currently underway with the sorting of recyclable material that has been collected on the Għallis landfill over the past three years. Through this operation, hundreds of tonnes of aluminium and metal recyclables are being given a new life as they re-enter the production chain to be transformed into new products. Aaron Farrugia, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning, announced this during a visit to the operation with WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca, where around 12 tonnes of materials are being processed every day....
On 19 th September’20, the Government of India stated that a Cabinet note has been articulated for the vehicle scrapping policy. The note has been articulated by "Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for Cabinet on the development of an ecosystem for voluntary and environment-friendly phasing out of unfit and old polluting vehicles," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways VK Singh told in the parliament. The government had said earlier, that the proposed policy, once approved, will apply to all vehicles. The policy was sent for a fresh round of consultation with stakeholders in the direction of the PMO. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, had earlier said in 2020 that once the policy is approved, India could emerge as a hub for automobile...
According to the latest data shown by the US Geological Survey, Canada exported 157,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap to the United States in the first half of 2020 compared to 190,000 tonnes during the same period last year. This means Canada’s aluminium scrap exports to the US dwindled by 17.37 per cent year-on-year in H1 2020. In the second quarter of the year, Canada exported 67,400 tonnes of aluminium scrap to the US in comparison to only 17,000 tonnes in the first quarter. Exports surged in the second quarter due to the hit on domestic demand by the COVID-19 pandemic, while the production across Canadian smelters remained stable. Hike in exports led to the US government’s decision to re-impose the additional 10 per cent tariffs on Canadian aluminium imports in mid-August 2020. Trump...
A new smelter will be built adjacent to its billet manufacturing facilities to recycle scrap aluminium from Rio Tinto and its customers who turn ingots into value-added products. The facilities will have the capacity to remelt 30,000 tonnes of scrap per year to manufacture new billets. The billets cast from this scrap will be identified as a recycled product, which now has a value in the market. Ghita Ouaziz, General Manager of Shawinigan Aluminum, said: "The traceability of the billets will be established and we can provide this information to our customers who request it.” In 2014, in support with the Quebec Government, a Quebec consortium took over the casting centre that Rio Tinto wanted to pull down. Shawinigan Aluminum continues to manufacture billets there and did some recycling....
According to the latest data shared by the Shanghai Metals Market, China’s secondary aluminium producers operating rates gained 2.8 percentage points month-on-month in August to stand at 53.1 per cent. However, on a year-on-year basis, the operating rates fell by 3.4 percentage points. In July, Chinese secondary aluminium operating rates were 50.3 per cent, up by 2.3 percentage points month-on-month but down by 5 percentage points over the year. In June, however, the operating rates at China’s secondary aluminium makers declined month-on-month by 0.7 percentage points to come in at 48 per cent. The consecutive rise in operating rates in July could be attributed to the lower imports of aluminium alloys from early August, resulting in market shares of domestic cargoes. Besides, some...
Rio Tinto will initiate its first closed-loop recycling solution to complement its low carbon footprint aluminium billet production, delivering consumers with a sizable choice to meet the rising consumer demand for sustainable products. The service will be available from 2021, offering customers in North America a new scrap take-back solution and production of high-quality alloys made with recycled content. Tolga Egrilmezer, Rio Tinto Aluminium Vice President Sales and Marketing said “Our focus is on working with customers to deliver high-quality products that respond to their needs and we have developed this new recycling solution after requests from customers who want options to reprocess their extrusion scrap. It’s an offering that combines responsibly produced primary aluminium and...
Leicester City Council has launched a new citywide campaign to encourage city households to recycle more cans, foil and aerosols. With support from the UK metal industry, the ‘Make Metals Matter’ campaign will target over 140,000 homes and aims of reminding people to recycle all of their household metal packaging waste. Leicester City Council has collaborated with the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (AluPro) and MetalMatters – an industry partnership comprising the UK’s leading producers, users and recyclers of metal packaging – as part of a national campaign. People can recycle household metal packaging by giving it a quick rinse and putting it their orange bags for kerbside recycling. This includes food and drink cans; foil trays; empty aerosols; metal screw tops from bottles...
Estonia's economic freedom score is 77.7, making it's economy the 10th freest in the 2020 Index and the country is ranked 5 th among 45 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is well above the regional and world averages. Oil shale energy, telecommunications, textiles, chemical products, banking, services, food and fishing, timber, shipbuilding, electronics, and transportation are key sectors of the economy. The Northern European Nation’s aluminium scrap export during 2017-19 has been recorded at 26,612 tonnes and the revenue earning collected was $24.98 million. The estimated export for 2020 has been figured out at 8765 tonnes and revenue generation to stand at $7.35 million. However, when the export volume and earnings for 2020 gets added with the previous three years it...
Raffmetal S.p.A. has received Aluminium Stewardship Initiative Performance Standard certification for its refining operation in Casto, Italy. The facility produces standardized and industrial aluminium alloys in ingot form, continuous bar castings and in the liquid state from a broad range of recycled aluminium sources. The plant processes over 300.000 tonnes of scrap per year. Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI said, “We warmly congratulate Raffmetal S.p.A. on its ASI Performance Standard certification for its aluminium alloys refining operation. Metal recyclers are a critical link in the value chain that harness aluminium’s beneficial circularity properties and give aluminium its sustainability credentials. On top of this, Raffmetal’s use of its production residues to create...
Azelio, the Swedish energy storage firm and Atria Power of India have signed an MOU towards the collaboration of installation of over 65MW capacity of Azelio’s energy storage until 2025 in India. This is Azelio’s first landing foot in India and it is visualised as a market with the huge potentiality for renewable energy solutions in off-grid areas. Atria Power aspires to use Azelio’s energy storage technology to supply both electricity and heat. Whereas by combining Azelio’s energy storage units with cooling and water desalination technologies, Atria will offer zero-emission electricity, potable water, and cooling for rural villages and communities in India. Azelio’s storage technology can be connected to solar PV, wind power, or any other energy source. The energy is stored in recycled...
South Korea's imports of aluminium scrap from the US stood at 21,600 tonnes in June, with a year-on-year decrease of 4%. South Korea had imported 22,500 tonnes in June 2019. On a monthly basis, imports declined by 3.14% from 22,300 tonnes in May 2020, as updated by the US Census Bureau. South Korea imported 142,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap in the first six months of 2020, from 137,000 tonnes imported in the first six months of 2019. This marked an increase of 3.65% year-on-year. South Korea's imports of total aluminium (semi-finished products, crude metals and alloy and scrap) from the US stood at 23,500 tonnes in June 2020.That was down 6% from 25,000 tonnes in June 2019 and 1.67% from 23,900 tonnes in May 2020. In January-June, total imports came in at 154,000 tonnes, an increase from...
The economy of the Czech Republic is a developed export-oriented social market economy based on services, manufacturing, and innovation that maintains a high-income welfare state and the European social model. While the automotive industry is the Czech Republic's largest industry, other key sectors in the region include machinery, iron and steel production, metallurgy, chemical production, electronics, transport equipment, textiles, glass, ceramics, defence and pharmaceuticals. The Central European nation’s aluminium scrap export during 2017-19 has been recorded at 170,364 tonnes with the revenue generation remained at $172.41 million. The estimated aluminium scraps export for 2020 to stay at 66,106 tonnes and earnings to stand at $61.13 million. However, when the analysed 2020 export...
According to the latest data shown by the US Geological Survey of June 2020, the United States in the said month export 150,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap, bringing the total scrap exports in the second quarter of the year to 396,000 tonnes. In the first quarter (January-March), the United States exported 458,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap. This means export in the second quarter saw a decline of 62,000 tonnes or 13.54 per cent over the quarter. The United States aluminium scrap exports in June increased by 28,000 tonnes or 22.95 per cent from 122,000 tonnes in May. In April, the export volume stood at 124,000 tonnes, meaning the export in March dropped by 2,000 tonnes or 1.61 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, the US aluminium scrap exports in June 2020 stood lower by 9,000 tonnes or 5.66...
