Report: Firms say Russian aluminum ban to cripple European industry

MOSCOW, Oct 24 (PRIME) -- Five European industry associations said on Monday they had urged European authorities to prevent sanctions, tariffs or boycotts against Russian aluminum that they said could put thousands of companies out of business, Reuters reported.

Russia's RUSAL produces around 6% of the world's aluminum. This metal has not been targeted by Western sanctions against Russia following its (operation in) Ukraine.

But the U.S. is considering restrictions on Russian aluminum imports and the London Metal Exchange (LME), the biggest metals trade hub, is asking members if it should ban Russian material from its system.

Some companies have said they will stop buying Russian aluminum and others, such as U.S. producer Alcoa, are lobbying for measures against Russian metal.

In a joint statement, the associations said they sent a letter to E.U. authorities and “requested the urgent intervention of the European Commission and of E.U. member states against threats of bans, high tariffs or sanctions on Russian aluminum which represent an imminent and vital threat to the European aluminum industry.”

The statement said those boycotting or calling for measures against Russian metal "are either its main competitors or they enjoy supply options that are not available to the vast majority of the European aluminum value-chain."

For smaller users of aluminum in Europe, measures against Russian metal risked "potentially thousands of company closures and tens of thousands more unemployed in Europe as a direct consequence," it said.

European industry is under pressure from high inflation and rapidly slowing economic growth, while high energy prices have led to the closure of more than a million tonnes of aluminum production in Europe since 2021.

In 2018, after the United States sanctioned RUSAL and the LME blocked its metal, aluminum prices shot up 35% in a matter of days.

The five associations are the Federation of Aluminum Consumers in Europe (FACE), the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA), the Italian Foundry Suppliers' Association (Amafond), the Italian National Association of Steels, Metals, Scrap, Hardware (Assofermet) and the Italian Foundry Association (Assofond).

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