Aluminium Consumers in Europe (FACE)’s Post

𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐌 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒: 𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞  🇪🇺 FACE, with the Vice President and Development Director Alberto Pomari, proudly participated in "ALUMINIUM - World Trade Fair and Conference 2024", the world’s leading trade fair for the aluminium industry, held from 8 to 10 October 2024 at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre in Germany, under the motto "Sharing a Vision". For our association, which represents small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European aluminium value chain, this event was a unique opportunity to highlight the importance of creating fair access conditions to this essential raw material. Our mission is to protect the interests of the thousands of companies involved in the processing, transformation, and use of this lightweight metal, which is vital for industry and sustainability. 🫱🏻🫲🏼 The fair provided a crucial platform for dialogue on key issues facing the sector, such as energy, environment, recycling, and circular economy. The open discussions between institutions, businesses, and stakeholders allowed for an in-depth exploration of the economic, regulatory, and social challenges confronting the aluminium industry. Specifically, we addressed how technological innovation can help reduce energy costs and foster more sustainable practices. ♻️ For FACE, the topic of recycling and the circular economy is central: aluminium is infinitely recyclable, but it is crucial to raise awareness of its environmental benefits and economic potential. The fair offered an ideal opportunity to emphasize the importance of investing in research and development to further improve recycling processes and promote aluminium in innovative and sustainable applications. 📍 "ALUMINIUM 2024" was a strategic meeting point to strengthen collaboration among industry players, fostering a shared vision for a fairer and more sustainable future. FACE will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that access to aluminium resources in Europe is fair and transparent, so that our small and medium-sized enterprises can compete in an increasingly challenging global market. Find out more 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dWHatWKE #FACE #Alluminio #Aluminium #SMEs #Aluminium2024 #WorldTradeFair

⚙️ ALUMINIUM 2024 🗓️ 8th - 10th October 2024 📍 Exhibition Centre Düsseldorf 📌 From 8 to 10 October 2024, FACE - Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe will be present at the "ALUMINIUM 2024" event, which will take place at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre in Germany, to foster dialogue between manufacturers, suppliers and institutions and to defend the rights and interests of those working in the sector, looking in particular at the interests and needs of aluminium SMEs through the promotion of fair regulations and above all fairness and transparency in the market. ♻️ ALUMINIUM - World Trade Fair and Conference is the world's leading trade fair for one of the most interesting materials of our time and, as the industry's platform of excellence, covers the entire light metal value chain. Under the motto "Sharing a Vision", the focus of the trade fair is not only on the transfer of knowledge relating to material technologies and applications, but also on dialogue and discussion on current social, economic and regulatory issues in the sector, such as energy, the environment, recycling and the circular economy, and environmental sustainability. ✨ The underlying theme is the winning reality of sustainable and future-proof aluminium; the material is and will continue to be a game changer in terms of latitude of uses, protection of resources, facilitation of climate change. Find out more 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/d9H2SYj2 #FACE #Alluminio #Aluminium #SMEs #Aluminium2024 #WorldTradeFair

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐢 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞: 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚 📝 The Draghi Report comes as a sudden light because it summarises what our association of aluminium users in Europe has been advocating for so many years regarding the fundamental issues of fair access to raw materials and adequate support to the heart of our industry, which are the small and medium-sized companies, combined with the major issues that have more recently come to the fore such as decarbonisation, energy costs, eco-sustainability, the pitfalls of unfair trade competitiveness that is represented not only by the continuous and well-known trading licences that many eastern countries have taken, but also by self-defeating choices vigorously supported by a few multinational raw material producing companies in terms of import restrictions on the raw material we need. 🗣️ The leitmotif of Draghi's suggestions is that of an absolute necessity for our old continent, a true industrial policy to avoid the agony of an otherwise inevitable decline. On many points, the report refers back to Letta's previous study, and of great importance are the remarks referring to a theme that we have been addressing for more than twenty years, that of looking very carefully at the coordination between industrial policy choices, global competitive contexts and trade policies, a vital and essential point in the case of raw material aluminium, too often dominated by inertia or lack of attention that has then resulted in incomprehensible favouritism, which Face has been denouncing for over 20 years, such as the still operating duty on a raw material such as raw aluminium, which we lack today more than ever and on which we have been insisting since 2007. 🇪🇺 The key to the Draghi Report is the strong message for Europe to commit to strong actions on eco-sustainable manufacturing, decarbonisation, technological development and a strong focus on sustainable energy. As we have been arguing for 25 years in FACE, many future opportunities are open for aluminium from the new paths towards the eco-sustainable transition, Europe and Italy have a great tradition of more than a century in the development of the aluminium and its alloys supply chain, it would be a serious mistake not to support as necessary, and also well stressed in the Draghi report, the small and medium enterprises that have made this industrial segment in the EU great in the world. Here the full interview by Mario Conserva for Radio Radicale 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dm9gR2KF #FACE #Alluminio #Aluminium #EuropeanUnion #EU #DraghiReport #CBAM #SMEs

🎉 The 38th Fastmarkets International Aluminium Conference has officially come to a close, putting together the aluminium industry to have discussions on sustainability, market trends, technological advancements, trade policies, and other key factors shaping the industry's trajectory. 🇪🇺 On this occasion, our Vice President and Development Director Alberto Pomari led the round table "Europe's Role in the Aluminium Market", to explore, together with the participants, Europe’s pivotal role in the global aluminium market amidst shifting dynamics and emerging challenges. 🗣️ In particular, the participants: ▶ assessed the implications of Europe’s stagnant capacity growth and the widening gap between recycling supply and demand, particularly considering the continent’s ambitious sustainability goals; ▶ delved into the potential ramifications of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and other policy measures on industry competitiveness, while contemplating strategic pathways for Europe to navigate these complex landscapes and maintain its position as a leading player in the aluminium market; ▶ talked about on how we should advocate with the new European Commission and Parliament to support SMEs, and in particular in the aluminium downstream sector. 🫱🏻🫲🏼 As FACE, we support, as we have always done, the need to create equal access conditions to the aluminium raw material in Europe, looking after the interests of the thousands of small and medium-sized companies downstream processing, transforming and using the light metal, while at the same time developing initiatives to promote its research and development, the knowledge of its virtuous economic, social and environmental prerogatives, and to encourage its diffusion in the appropriate end uses. 🙏🏼 Thanks to all the organisers, attendees, speakers, and sponsors for making this event so memorable and impactful for the whole sector. Find out more 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/d9cyj7zc #FACE #Alluminio #Aluminium #EuropeanUnion #EU #FastmarketsIA #FastmarketsMetals #SMEs

𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐔 𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 EU rules are killing SMEs, said Mario Draghi when presenting his report on competitiveness. An appeal for realism and pragmatism that finds our important support. "Asian competition in the aluminium sector is putting European SMEs under severe pressure. The main causes are the much lower production costs in countries like China and India, thanks to lower wages, less stringent environmental regulations and state subsidies to the industries. This has enabled Asian manufacturers to offer aluminium parts and semi-finished components at significantly lower prices than their European counterparts", explained our President Mario Conserva. Among the critical issues to be resolved are import duties on raw aluminium from non-EU countries, which force SMEs in the sector to operate with narrow margins, thus finding themselves competing in an environment where they cannot further lower costs without compromising quality or sustainability. Worsening the picture are the stringent environmental constraints imposed on companies operating in the EU. Which, explains Conserva, "while crucial for the ecological transition, impose heavy economic burdens on companies". The disparity between European and Asian regulations creates, as Draghi has also pointed out, an imbalance in competitiveness. "SMEs", continues Conserva, "are the backbone of the European economy and this pressure could lead to the closure of many of them or the relocation of production, with serious consequences for employment and the local industrial fabric. In this scenario, an effective political response should be, in addition to the abolition of duties on imports of raw aluminium, to rethink the current Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) set up by the European Commission, transforming it from an environmental duty as it basically is today, to a stimulus to industrialisation on the example of the American Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)". Only through a combination of protective policies, including for example better and faster anti-dumping measures, and a strengthening of domestic production capacities, FACE President concluded, "can the European aluminium industry hope to remain competitive in the face of aggressive Asian competition". Read the full article on Libero 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dvCjc8ka #FACE #Alluminio #Aluminium #EuropeanUnion #EU #DraghiReport #CBAM #SMEs

𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐢 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 - 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚 (𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄): 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 "Without strong coordination between national and European institutions and clear political will, the proposals from the European Competitiveness Report presented by Mario Draghi, as well as those in the previous Single Market Report by Enrico Letta, risk remaining mere theoretical exercises. A clear mechanism of European financial solidarity and fiscal convergence among Member States is necessary to address these challenges. The strategy must include an industrial and green competitiveness policy that recognises the central role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," stated Mario Conserva, President of FACE (Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe). "One of the most critical issues," continued Conserva, "concerns the funding of the proposed measures. The European Union - Institutions and Member Stares - has mobilised €4.2 trillion to respond to the post-Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine, but the management of these funds has not been sufficiently clear and coordinated. There are lingering unknowns about how these funds have been spent in detail and how the funds already allocated but not yet used will be employed. Moreover, the European Central Bank estimates a need of over €5 trillion to finance the digital, industrial, climate, and social transitions." "This scenario risks exacerbating difficulties and to compromise the long-term development of the European Union," warned Conserva. "In this context, the Letta-Draghi agenda should serve as a catalyst for greater cooperation both within Europe and internationally, and for sustainable growth. However, all this will only be possible with strong political and financial support." For the FACE President, SMEs, which form the backbone of the European economy, are "essential for innovation, job creation, the green transition and local development." "Despite this," he added, "they face much greater challenges than large multinationals. It is therefore essential to promote targeted policies that enable SMEs to become key players in these ongoing transitions. An inclusive European strategy must ensure SMEs have quick and simplified access to necessary funds and benefit from competitive and stable supplies of low carbon raw materials so they can compete in an increasingly sustainability-oriented global market. Only in this way can we build green competitiveness that leaves no one behind and strengthens the European productive engine." "The EU," concluded Conserva, "cannot survive as a political project, let alone aspire to become a global power, without a strong industrial base." Read our press release 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dngyRund #FACE #Alluminio #Aluminium #EuropeanUnion #EU #DraghiReport

𝐀𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 🇮🇹 The recent debate in the Italian Chamber of Deputies on critical raw materials of strategic interest is a compulsory step to identify the resources needed for energy transition and industrial sustainability. The bill converting Law Decree No. 84 dated June 25th 2024 aims to strengthen Italy’s resilience in the sector of critical raw materials, which are essential for the green and digital transition. The measure fits into the framework of the objectives outlined by (EU) Regulation 2024/1252, known as the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRM Act), which aims to ensure a secure and sustainable supply of these resources, which are indispensable for strategic sectors such as aerospace, defence and renewable energy. 🗣️ "To optimise the effectiveness of the draft law - said our President and CEO Mario Conserva in the last editorial for the magazine A&L Alluminio e Leghe - we consider it essential to include specific measures promoting the recycling of non-ferrous metals, such as aluminium". 🇪🇺 The aluminium sector in Europe faces significant challenges, including dependence on raw material imports and high energy costs. Aluminium is an essential resource for Europe's future and its recycling is a priority quality, requiring only 5% of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium. The draft law under discussion is an important answer to these challenges, as it aims to secure the supply of critical raw materials, reducing dependence on external supplies and promoting recycling and sustainability. 📌 We propose extending the monitoring already established for ferrous scrap also to copper and aluminium scrap. Finally, and a key point if we really want to ensure a stable supply of critical raw materials, the elimination of import duty on raw aluminium within the EU can no longer be postponed. This duty increases the costs for European manufacturing industries, reducing their competitiveness at global level, and the end-user segment, which accounts for more than 90% of the segment’s turnover and is overwhelmingly made up of SMEs, is damaged. The elimination of this duty on raw metal means cheaper access to the raw material primary aluminium, of which the EU is short of 85% thus supporting the growth and sustainability of the sector. 🫱🏻🫲🏼 We fully support this measure with the hope that further measures will be introduced to promote recycling, efficient use of resources, and correct and fair access to materials. By fostering proper cooperation between institutions and industry, thinking of our small and medium-sized companies and not of the interests of large multinational lobbies, we can ensure a more sustainable and competitive future for the aluminium supply chain in Europe. Here the full article 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dC8Aqeme #FACE #Aluminium #Alluminio #CriticalRawMaterials #EuropeanUnion #EU

🇪🇺 Europe has to import about 8 million tonnes of primary aluminium per year, compared to a total use of raw metal, including recycled aluminium, of just over 13.5 million tonnes. In recent years, in fact, the EU has experienced a sharp drop in the production of primary aluminium with a loss of 65%, and domestic production, which was over 3 million tonnes in 2000, now amounts to only about 950,000 tonnes. ⚙️ This is a risky situation for a high-tech material that is widely and increasingly used in every industrial segment. In particular in Europe, this situation is impacted by circumstances related to the very characteristics of the production and supply chain of the versatile light metal: the high energy consumption in its production on which high and growing costs weigh; the actual availability of the raw metal and the problems in the supply chains, such as import duties in the EU, absurd for a raw material that we do not have; climate measures that impact on production costs, both as a cost and as a tariff on imports from less virtuous countries in the EU; then add to this the lobbying pressures for self-defeating sanctions that are also artfully constructed in connection with international crises such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 🏭 Our President and CEO Mario Conserva was interviewed by the Italian press agency Dire.it to give voice to the thousands of small and medium-sized companies downstream processing, transforming and using light metal, which are today endangered by short-sighted, ineffective and self-defeating political choices for the European downstream. 🗣️ "It is necessary to ensure uniform conditions and rules, a level playing field for our operators, with the same conditions of access to raw materials that our formidable competitors in the East have. Decision-makers must help us by selecting the most appropriate and environmentally friendly producers, the most reliable and also the closest, because distance also counts", stated our CEO and President. Read and listen to the whole interview here 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/eW8KPgrq #FACE #Aluminium #Alluminio #EuropeanUnion #EU #CBAM

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐩 ⚠ Caution should be paid to the case of aluminium and the weak choices of the Western world which complicate trading and neglect the general interest of the supply chain and downstream SMEs. 🇨🇳 The Chinese economy has been working on key commodities for some time, and the case of aluminium is part of this logic. Their system is adding investment upon investment across the commodities front, with a clear strategic plan, apart from rare metals. China’s State Council recently published an action plan on a subject very closely related to commodities, that of energy saving and green technologies for the 2024-25 period, with the aim of reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by around 2.5% and 3.9% respectively in 2024. The share of non-fossil energy consumption is expected to grow to 18.9% in 2024 and 20% in 2025. 🗣️ "In relation to the aluminium sector, how can one fail to appreciate their timing to really get ahead of the times to be able to compete head-on with our manufacturing? - said our President and CEO Mario Conserva in the last editorial for the magazine A&L Alluminio e Leghe. In this context it is utterly self-destructive to maintain EU tariffs on imports of a raw material such as primary aluminium whose domestic production is disappearing, and it is equally absurd and self-damaging to make calls for restricting or banning flows of low carbon primary aluminium that are still being purchased by EU consumers in a general context of shortage and high prices. 🇪🇺 In recent decades, in the market for our metal, the decision-makers who have "protected" the so-called compromises on tariffs and other decisions on the unfortunately hopeless production of primary aluminium, disregarding competent and unbiased positions, thus undermining competitiveness of 80% and more of the supply chain and the many SMEs in the segment. Here the full article 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dFUrmeAJ #FACE #Aluminium #Alluminio #EuropeanUnion #EU #China

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐔 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 🗣️ Naike Gruppioni, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Parliament, recently stated that, while in Brussels a new set of sanctions against Russia is being considered, "sanctioning aluminium from Russia would be politically and economically counterproductive, as the EU market does not follow the same supply patterns as those of the UK and the US", which instead recently imposed restrictions banning Russian aluminium from using the London Metals Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) as markets of last resort”. 🌍 In fact, as the MP said, the aluminium "proceeds through a high-value-added European supply chain that supports jobs and investments across Europe. Significant downstream European operations like foundries and refineries are spread across the continent - often in manufacturing regions that cannot afford to lose those high-skilled jobs". ⚙️ As we have been advocating for a long time, "any sanction on aluminium would undermine - and in some cases, completely kill - this high-value-added European supply chain. Restrictions on such a large source of supply would lead to price increases and inflation at every stage, from raw materials to finished products, including clean energy infrastructure and consumer goods. The return of inflation caused by political decisions is the last thing the European industry and consumer need. When that European supply chain is shut down after the imposition of sanctions, what will happen to the EU’s aluminium demand? The answer is that the EU will become even more dependent on the world’s number one aluminium producer: China". 🇪🇺 EU Member States should not sanction aluminium because "the benefits would be purely performative, and the disadvantages would be real and have enormous repercussions not only on competitiveness, but also on security and strategic dependence. We would put the very survival of the European industrial fabric at real risk - both in processing countries like Sweden and Ireland, and in industrial end-user countries like France and Italy". Here the article by Euractiv 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/epVyGkH6 #FACE #Alluminio #Aluminium #EuropeanUnion #EU