European Aluminium suggests ban on Russia-origin aluminium and not on Rusal

The European Union has been considering banning aluminium of Russian origin due to the geopolitical crisis between Russia and Ukraine. So far, the action has not come into effect but has not been completely discarded, given the volume of Rusal's aluminium supplies. In 2023, Rusal sold 4.2 million tonnes of aluminium, most of which was produced in Russia.

Rusal also has operations in other parts of the world, such as Ireland, Sweden, Jamaica, Guinea and China, but these assets mainly produce bauxite and alumina.

However, it should be noted here that European Union's imports of Russian primary aluminium have dropped since 2018. According to Trade Data Monitor, EU imported 512,122 tonnes of aluminium in 2023 that accounted for 8 per cent of the total imports compared to 12 per cent in 2022 and 19 per cent in 2018.