Aluminum is one of the world’s most abundant metals, typically extracted from bauxite ore. Guinea, Australia, and Vietnam are cited as hosting the
levels. Chinese aluminum-producing companies
world’s leading producers in 2021. They shared the market with Rusal, Alcao, and Rio Tinto, which also record among the highest aluminum outputs worldwide.
Supply chain disruptions slow down post-pandemic growth
The global aluminum industry has been highly volatile since 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis. The global pandemic disrupted trading in the metals industry worldwide. Demand for metals dropped as countries imposed strict lockdown measures to curb the spread of the virus. The health crisis was felt throughout the aluminum industry, with
Chalco’s revenue falling by nearly five billion yuan in 2020. That same year, Rusal, the third leading primary aluminum-producing company,
recorded a steeper drop of over 11 percent of its 2019 revenue. In the second half of 2020, as many countries began to ease the coronavirus measures, and aluminum industry showed the first signs of recovery with rising aluminum demand. However, previous
supply chain disruptions impeded the sector from reaching pre-pandemic levels. The scarcity of raw materials, increased cost of transportation, and the Russia-Ukraine war induced a spike in
aluminum prices. As of March 2022, the average cost of aluminum reached 3,496 U.S. dollars per metric ton, representing an increase of 94 percent compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019.
The impact of the pandemic
After many international parties signed
Paris Agreement, mitigation strategies to curb carbon emissions became the most critical topic for world economies. Many industries have begun to alter their procedures in an effort to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and aid in the global fight against climate change. Consequently, sustainability has become an increasingly important issue for the aluminum industry since it significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. Aluminum production processes are highly energy dependent, from mining to the final product. Specifically, the
electrolysis process for extracting aluminum from bauxites significantly releases more greenhouse gas than the other manufacturing steps. In 2021, the Electrolysis phase emitted 863 million tons of carbon dioxide.
One way to decarbonize the aluminum industry is by recycling. Aluminum is almost 100 percent recyclable, and this process requires way less energy than producing it from scratch. In 2021, China, the leading aluminum producer,
recycled 12,771 metric kilotons of aluminum and
13,193 metric kilotons of aluminum ingots. In contrast, these figures for the European Union were 5,551 and 5,734 metric kilotons, respectively.
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