
Secondary aluminium is increasingly central to Europe’s decarbonisation plans. It is used in automotive castings, construction profiles, packaging and consumer goods and is valued because it can deliver similar mechanical properties to primary metal while requiring a fraction of the energy and...
India’s rapidly expanding secondary aluminium industry is facing a shortage of domestic scrap, leaving recyclers dependent on overseas suppliers and vulnerable to changing trade policies in major exporting regions. Secondary aluminium production has increased from approximately 0.85 million tonnes...
Grow with
AL Circle

Europe’s aluminium scrap market is at the centre of a growing debate over whether rising exports are tightening domestic supply or are a result of weak demand from European smelters. In this interview, Julia Ettinger, Secretary General of Recycling Europe, explains the market factors driving scrap...

The UK has an ambitious aluminium scrap equation to solve. Domestic industry is forecast to require as much as 6 million tonnes of aluminium scrap for recycling by 2035 to support the government’s projected 8 million tonnes of aluminium demand across sectors. Yet much of the metal needed to support...

Aluminium scrap: This week, the aluminium scrap market continued to see a tug-of-war between cost-supported floors and sluggish off-season demand, with prices moving sideways. The SMM A00 spot aluminium price closed at around RMB 22,950 per tonne on July 9. The decline in aluminium scrap was...

As aluminium producers place greater emphasis on recycled metal, scrap has become an increasingly important part of the wider aluminium value chain. Against this backdrop, Germany entered 2026 with a shift in its export picture, as aluminium scrap shipments moved higher after declining on an annual...

The UK is one of the largest consumer hubs in the European continent, collecting several thousand tonnes of aluminium scrap each month. In 2025, the United Kingdom’s total aluminium scrap exports reached 623,584 tonnes, according to Customs data. These volumes have been on the rise since the start...

The European Union is preparing to introduce a 15 per cent levy on aluminium scrap exports in a move aimed at keeping more recyclable metal within the bloc as competition for critical raw materials intensifies. According to industry sources, the proposal is expected to be presented on September 9...

June saw notable impacts on the secondary aluminium market from both lower primary aluminium prices and tighter scrap supply amid tax policy changes. The refined-to-scrap spread narrowed to RMB 412/tonne, a fresh year-to-date low, encouraging some consumers to replace scrap with A00 ingots. With...

As reported by the industrial association European Aluminium and other related sources, the European Union’s implementation of measures to curb aluminium scrap export have been postponed till September, 2026. The update has emerged in the midst of the calls made by the European aluminium industry...

India's Ministry of Commerce is seeking diplomatic discussions with the European Union (EU) regarding its upcoming Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR). It was prompted by concerns that the new framework could restrict the flow of recyclable materials, including aluminium scrap, to non-OECD countries....

Europe’s aluminium recycling industry is entering a defining phase. Demand for low-carbon aluminium is climbing rapidly across automotive, packaging, construction and clean energy sectors, while policymakers continue to champion circularity as a key pillar of climate action. Yet, despite recycling...

As we look more closely into the aluminium industry of China, the leading exporter in the global aluminium supply chain, it appears to fall short in the aluminium scrap market. How do we know? China’s import data accumulated from the International Trade Administration offer evident pointers. In Q1...

How has the momentum in UK aluminium scrap exports to the US been in the opening quarter (Q1) of 2026? According to the data recorded in the International Trade Administration (ITA), a slight cooling can be noticed, with shipments and export revenues both slipping from the levels recorded a year...

New analysis published today emphasises that a substantial 25 per cent annual growth rate will be needed for the aluminium scrap sector to meet the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy demand. Aluminium scrap is an essential material for products supplying defence, clean energy, digital technologies and...

Britain's increasing exports of aluminium scrap are raising concerns about the long-term availability of a key raw material. With the intensified push for sustainability across the world, aluminium scrap is a requisite by strategic sectors such as defence, automotive, clean energy and digital...

The European Union is one of the largest generators and collectors of aluminium scrap in the world, with over 80 per cent recycling rate. The demand is also robust, with an average annual volume of 8 million tonnes. Yet, the European Union exports 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes of scrap during a year,...

A new trade group representing companies involved in the US secondary aluminium industry has been launched, bringing together businesses from across the country's aluminium recycling and processing value chain. The organisation, called the Secondary Aluminum Coalition for America (SACA), says it...

As part of AL Circle’s latest initiative , “European Aluminium Recycling Market,” an exclusive interview between AL Circle and Tom Jansen, VP and Head of Segments for TOMRA Recycling, explored why Europe’s aluminium recycling debate is shifting from how much scrap is available to how well that...

The European aluminium industry has renewed its call for stronger safeguards to protect aluminium scrap and shield Europe from the incomplete framework of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). As the European Union finance ministers prepare to finalise their position on revisions to the...