2025 predictions Aluminium Industry


Institute, European aluminium production declined by 3.95% in 2023 to 6.73m tonnes.


Production of aluminium takes a huge amount of energy, with the molten metal having to be kept in the region of 700˚ for an extended period. With energy prices unlikely to come down any time soon, the disruption to Europe’s domestic production of aluminium seems likely to continue.


Europe may seek to offset the decline in domestic production by increasing the already-large amount of aluminium it imports from places such as China. However, with key global trading routes passing through multiple potential flashpoints including the Red Sea and South China Sea, the potential for further disruption to European supply chains, including aluminium, in the form of longer shipping times and higher freight costs remains very real.


Tighter scrap aluminium availability


Several factors are currently converging to increase demand for scrap aluminium. As demand for the metal rises, supplies of primary aluminium are becoming more squeezed while high energy prices make new aluminium more expensive to produce. In addition, emissions targets set by governments or demanded by consumers will continue to encourage producers to seek ways to decarbonise.


To try and offset these hurdles, the aluminium industry will turn more aggressively to secondary (scrap) metal as an alternative source which uses 95% less energy than primary aluminium.


With aluminium already being recycled at a rate of around 76%, according to the International Aluminium Institute, we can expect to see buyers in Europe and North America having to compete more forcefully with buyers in Asia for the available supplies. Producers can respond by improving recovery techniques to ensure the maximum possible amount of the metal can be returned into circulation.


Net-zero and carbon emissions targets will increase the demand for low-carbon aluminium


According to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, the aluminium industry must reduce its emissions by more than 95% by 2050 to reach its 1.5˚c goals. For this ambitious goal to be achieved, what is now known as low carbon aluminium must become the norm.


Emissions targets are already front and centre in producers’ minds and to meet them, they are already planning ways to improve their production of low-carbon aluminium, either through recycling or by sourcing the energy their facilities consume from low-carbon sources. Major producers such as Emirates Global Aluminium are focusing on meeting the growing global demand for low-carbon aluminium and can expect to do so for the foreseeable future.


With aluminium


already being recycled


at a rate of


around 76%, according to the


International Aluminium


Institute, we can expect


to see buyers in Europe and North America


having to compete more


forcefully


with buyers in Asia for


the available supplies.


Increased interest in real- time melt analysis solutions


High energy prices and growing demand for low carbon aluminium will lead producers to seek energy savings through the adoption of new technologies. Real-time composition analysis, offers energy savings to producers looking to reduce their consumption, by cutting the amount of time the aluminium needs to spend molten and reducing the chances of needing an energy-intensive remelt.


DTE couples Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technology with advanced AI analytics software to provide real-time insights into the composition of molten metal. This enables producers to know within seconds exactly what is in their melt, rather than waiting for a much longer period to solidify a sample and take it to a laboratory for testing. This technology also gives accurate predictive insights into how producers can make their processes safer and more energy efficient.


Unlocking insights: DTE operator harnessing the power of data


DTE’s solutions empower recyclers to maximize the use of recycled aluminum, reducing emissions, energy usage, and reducing reliance on primary aluminum. Since recycling aluminum requires 95% less energy than primary production, they view improving recycled content as a crucial part of reducing emissions worldwide.


For more information about DTE, please visit https://www.dte.ai/. 37 metalpackager.com


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