European Aluminium, a member-based industry association representing Europe's aluminium value chain, commands the European Union to impose sanctions on aluminium supplied from Russia and exclude EU-based companies owned by Rusal.
The European Union has been considering banning aluminium of Russian origin due to the geopolitical crisis between Russia and Ukraine. So far, the action has not come into effect but has not been completely discarded, given the volume of Rusal's aluminium supplies. In 2023, Rusal sold 4.2 million tonnes of aluminium, most of which was produced in Russia.
However, it should be noted here that European Union's imports of Russian primary aluminium have dropped since 2018. According to Trade Data Monitor, EU imported 512,122 tonnes of aluminium in 2023 that accounted for 8 per cent of the total imports compared to 12 per cent in 2022 and 19 per cent in 2018.
The European Union has banned aluminium wire, foil, tubes, and pipes supplied from Russia. But besides that, the major portion of exports, including primary metal, which accounts for 85 per cent of Russia's total aluminium exports, remain outside the scope of the measure, according to European Aluminium.
"The principle behind EU sanctions has been to try and do as much as possible to undermine the Russian war machine without creating harm to European industrial and by extension, societal interests," said Paul Voss, Director General of European Aluminium.
