Is the energy crisis threatening the site?

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The price of electricity has reached a new record level and poses existential challenges for the electricity-intensive aluminum smelters in Germany in particular.

Hinrich Mählmann chooses drastic words: "If we don't find a solution to the energy crisis in a timely manner, there will soon be no more aluminium smelters in Germany. They are under acute threat", warns the president of Aluminium Deutschland.

According to the association, production of aluminium in Germany fell in the second quarter of 2022, in some cases significantly. With a decline of 23 percent, the production of raw aluminium shrank particularly sharply.

Competitive disadvantage gas levy

For the non-ferrous metals industry, the recently adopted gas surcharge will result in additional costs of just under 300 million euros. The aluminium industry accounts for the lion's share of this, around two thirds. Particularly in the case of gas-intensive companies, such as the recycling plants that are so important for reducing CO2 emissions, this results in additional costs that quickly run into the five-digit euro range per employee.

According to Mählmann, the gas levy is "fundamentally a necessary instrument to secure Germany's supply. However, its concrete design should be reconsidered. The policy is now in the responsibility, with the gas-intensive industry not the second domino stone to overturn, after it supported the first.

To the complete message of aluminum Germany (German).