The European Commission has begun preparatory work on a new measure that will ensure Europe's aluminium recycling industry has access to adequate volumes of aluminium scrap, trade and economic security commissioner Maros Sefcovic announced at the European Aluminium summit in Brussels today.
"We are preparing a balanced measure to address the issue of aluminium scrap leakage," Sefcovic said, adding that the measure is likely to be adopted in spring 2026.
European industry associations have been calling for such a measure for some time. These calls have grown this year after US president Donald Trump's decision to impose 25pc tariffs on imports of primary aluminium, due to the likelihood that this would lead to semi-product manufacturers in the US using more scrap metal in their production facilities as a way of avoiding the duties.
European Aluminium and Aluminium Deutschland in late March called for the use of export tariffs to ensure an adequate European supply of aluminium scrap in response to increasing demand from export markets. European Aluminium repeated its call for such restrictions after Trump doubled the tariff on aluminium imports to 50pc at the end of May.
Delegates and speakers at the European Aluminium summit welcomed the commission's announcement today. Paul Warton, head of Hydro's extrusions business and chair of European Aluminium, said he was "very pleased" by the announcement, while European Aluminium director-general Paul Voss called the current situation with aluminium scrap leaving Europe in greater quantities "the definition of a market failure".
The EU and UK together exported around 1.6mn t of aluminium scrap in 2024, almost a quarter higher than in 2022 and around 60pc up on 2019.
It is not yet clear what form the measure announced today will take, although Voss said a full ban "was never on the table". But export tariffs or quotas could be considered. The European Commission will now engage in a public consultation and seek evidence to support its eventual decision, Sefcovic said.
