Chinese growth on the world commodity map

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 editorial by our President and CEO Mario Conserva for the magazine A&L-Alluminio e Leghe: https://www.calameo.com/publitec/read/007274363be31e1098ad3