Aluminium production in Germany again fell significantly in the second quarter. At the primary aluminium smelters, the production volume fell by almost half, and in the semi-finished products processing sector the decline was in the double-digit percentage range.

"The exodus of industry has already begun and is gathering pace. Industrial value creation and thus prosperity in Germany are at stake. The federal government urgently needs to take countermeasures. It is not about permanent subsidies, but about a bridge. And about more than 60,000 jobs in the aluminium industry. We welcome the Chancellor's announcement that structural measures will reduce energy prices in Germany to a competitive level. But we cannot rely on this alone. Time is pressing and if large parts of the industry are gone, they won't come back. With all the consequences for industrial value creation and the country's independence," emphasises Rob van Gils, President Aluminium Deutschland. "Germany will be the only industrialised country not to grow this year. That should give us all food for thought – fundamentally. The production and investment conditions must be significantly improved. The current weak economy is causing us problems. Demand from important customer sectors such as the construction industry and mechanical engineering continues to decline. And the upswing seems further away than ever. The worry lines are getting deeper."

The production of raw aluminium fell by 14 per cent to around 748,000 tonnes in the second quarter. After the first half of the year, output stands at a good 1.5 million tonnes. The production of primary aluminium in the period from January to June fell by 50 per cent compared to the same period last year - the smelters produced around 98,000 tonnes. Before the energy crisis, they produced almost three times as much.

The semi-finished aluminium processing sector, with just under 595,000 tonnes in the second quarter, also recorded a significant drop (-12 per cent). The decline was in the double-digit range for both the producers of extruded products (-16 per cent) and the producers of rolled products (-11 per cent). In the first half of the year, a total of 1.2 million tonnes of semi-finished products were produced in Germany (-10 per cent).

Press release Aluminium Deutschland