US legislators are joining their European counterparts in considering restrictions on the export of aluminium scrap – with recyclers arguing it is a short-sighted approach.
Such moves have already been touted in the EU’s Steel and Metals Action Plan with European recyclers fearing it could lead effectively to a ban on scrap exports, hitting them directly in the pocket and limiting their ability to invest in infrastructure.
It was discussed during a packed session the latest BIR Convention in Gothenburg, Sweden in early June.
Struggling smelters
Amid strong criticism from delegates, Paul Voss, director general of European Aluminium, pointed out that exports of aluminium scrap out of Europe had doubled since 2015 and grown about 50% since 2020.’ European smelters were struggling to survive, he said.
‘I imagine you say to yourselves “We sell to the rest of the world, we sell to Europe, we sell to everybody, and that’s a good thing. And what’s wrong with that?” But I can tell you that there are rooms exactly like this one, full of aluminium industry people saying we are facing an existential crisis.’
‘Dangerous talk‘
He believed more scrap should stay within the European market but strongly denied he had sought an outright ban, as several in his audience claimed.
Among Voss’ critics was senior BIR voice Murat Bayram who told Voss: ‘It is very dangerous even to talk about export bans or to spread that narrative and it’s not true you have never proposed it.
‘You have major problems on your side, we realise that. Whether it’s a ban or a tariff, what you suggest is to take money out of the pocket of these recyclers.’
Bayram argued that cutting the incomes of recyclers would lead to lower investment in the industry and lower scrap volumes. Read more on the BIR debate in the next issue of Recycling international.
Congress proposal
In a similar tack in the US, Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens has introduced the Secure Aluminum Supply Chains Act, ‘which would direct the US International Trade Commission to investigate the national and economic security risks posed by US aluminium scrap exports to adversarial nations’.
Stevens argues that, while US manufacturers rely heavily on scrap aluminium as an affordable and energy-efficient input, large volumes leave the country ‘including exports that may be supplying Chinese industries that seek to topple our manufacturing economy here at home’.
‘We cannot sit back and let strategic materials that power American manufacturing to flow to competitors actively working to undercut our industries,’ she says.
ReMA response
TheAct directs the commission to conduct a comprehensive investigation into exports to countries of concern and entities controlled by those countries. The study will examine the economic and national security risks posed by these exports and provide Congress with recommendations to strengthen domestic supply chains.
In response, ReMA, representing US recycling supply chains, says it wants to engage with Stevens, policy makers and industry stakeholders to provide a complete understanding of aluminium recycling, domestic market dynamics and exports.
‘The United States generates more recycled aluminium of all grades than can be consumed by domestic manufacturers,’ argues ReMA president Robin Wiener.
‘These exports help maintain efficient recycling operations, support investment in infrastructure and ensure the recovery of valuable materials. As more US secondary aluminium capacity comes online, US recycling companies are ready to meet their feedstock demand.’
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