EU official backs aluminum scrap export restrictions

In a mid-November speech to a European aluminum producers trade association, a trade official with the Brussels-based European Commission (EC) said he was pleased to announce the launch of preparatory work on a new measure to address the issue of "aluminum scrap leakage.”

In his address to members of European Aluminium, EC Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič added, “We do not want to completely block aluminum scrap exports.”

“We want to prepare a balanced measure that will allow industries using aluminum to access adequate quantities of this strategically important material at competitive prices, in order to pursue their path towards decarbonization, fully in line with a circular economy logic.”

He said the measure he would like to see adopted by the spring of 2026 will take into account the interests of all actors in the aluminum value chain, from producers, to recyclers, to downstream sectors, and will respect the international obligations of the European Union.

Šefčovič also encouraged attendees of the trade group meeting to participate in a public consultation and a “call for evidence” the EC intends to launch by the end of this year. 

Groups representing recycled metal processors and traders already have expressed their viewpoints as the notion of an export ban has been discussed throughout 2025.

In a September statement, the Berlin-based Association of German Metal Traders and Recyclers (VDM) and the Düsseldorf, Germany-based Federal Association of German Steel Recycling and Disposal Companies (BDSV) said such policies are "the wrong way to go—especially at a time when the [sales] situation in Germany is extremely tense for many companies in the recycling industry.”

On the same day as the speech by Šefčovič, Brussels-based European Aluminium said it “warmly welcomes” the announcement by the EC official.

“This is a strong and timely statement of intent from the Commission,” says Paul Voss, director general of European Aluminium. “Europe’s future will to a large extent depend on its ability to secure access to the raw materials that our economy and our society require. It is therefore hugely encouraging to see the EU acting so decisively to save our scrap.”

The metals producing association ties the measure to wider global trade policies being put in place this decade, including “the doubling of United States Section 232 tariffs [on aluminum] to 50 percent.”