Aluminium

Overview

Three takeaways

1. Primary aluminium production reached about 74.0 Mt in 2025, of which about 60% came from China.
2. Smelting a tonne of primary aluminium emits on average about 14.4 t of CO₂ (2024, IAI) – which is why aluminium is covered by the CBAM.
3. Recycling saves about 95% of the energy, and more than 90% of the aluminium in end-of-life vehicles is recovered.

Aluminium is a metal of paradoxes. It is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust, yet also a high-tech material; producing it from ore is among the most energy-intensive processes in industry, yet once made it can circulate in the economy indefinitely, using only a fraction of the original energy when recycled. It is precisely these tensions – between lightness and energy intensity, between the heavy footprint of primary production and near-perfect circularity – that make aluminium one of the most important and fascinating metals of the 21st century.

Properties

Aluminium combines features rarely found together in one metal. Its density (approx. 2.7 g/cm³) is about one-third that of steel, yet aluminium alloys achieve high strength. A thin, self-forming oxide layer provides corrosion resistance; the metal is non-magnetic, reflects light and heat well, is non-toxic, and its electrical conductivity (approx. 61% IACS) exceeds copper on a per-mass basis – which is why aluminium is used in overhead transmission lines. Its low melting point (660 °C) makes casting and recycling easier.

Aluminium, the human being and everyday life

Unlike copper or zinc, aluminium is not an essential element for the body, and its inorganic forms have low toxicity at normal exposure – which is why they are safely used in food packaging, foil and cookware. In everyday surroundings aluminium is ubiquitous: cans and foil in the kitchen, window joinery and façades, electronics casings, wheels and body parts, bicycle frames, and power conductors.

Market

The value chain: bauxite → alumina → aluminium

The road from rock to metal is two-stage and energy-intensive. First the Bayer process converts bauxite into alumina, and then the Hall-Héroult process (developed in 1886) extracts pure aluminium by electrolysis of molten alumina. The proportions are telling: roughly 4–5 tonnes of bauxite yield 2 tonnes of alumina and 1 tonne of aluminium.

The geography of the chain is heavily concentrated. Guinea holds the largest bauxite reserves (about 7.4 billion t) and is also the largest producer (about 150 million t in 2025), followed by Australia and China. China dominates both alumina refining (about 62% of world output in 2025) and smelting. This concentration – of raw material, energy and processing capacity – is today one of the main risk factors for European industry.

Market and production – China's dominance and prices

Aluminium is – after steel – the world's second most produced metal. World primary production in 2025 was about 74.0 million tonnes (International Aluminium Institute), and production is led overwhelmingly by China (about 60%), which since 2017 has maintained an administrative capacity cap of about 45 million t a year – in 2025 its capacity reached that level.

The average LME aluminium price in 2025 was about USD 2,630/t, up from about USD 2,420/t in 2024 (World Bank). Crucially, the profitability of smelting is determined above all by the cost of electricity – which is why smelters are sited where power is cheap, and increasingly where it is low-carbon.

Energy intensity and decarbonisation

The price of aluminium's properties is the energy intensity of primary production: electrolytic smelting alone uses on average about 13,900 kWh of electricity per tonne (in Europe about 15,500 kWh/t; IAI, 2025). The global average carbon footprint – from bauxite mining to casting – is about 14.4 t CO₂e per tonne of metal (IAI, 2024), of which about 8.5 t comes from electricity; but this figure hides a huge spread depending on the power source: from about 2–4 t with hydropower to about 16–20 t with coal. In the age of carbon pricing, the carbon footprint thus becomes a key competitive variable.

Source: International Aluminium Institute; producer data / CarbonChain (indicative figures).

Decarbonisation is advancing on two fronts. The first is "green" power in smelters (hydro, renewables). The second, a breakthrough, is the inert anode: in the ELYSIS technology (a Rio Tinto–Alcoa joint venture) the anode does not burn but releases oxygen instead of CO₂, eliminating direct process emissions from smelting. The technology is moving from demonstration to industrial scale at Rio Tinto smelters in Quebec, and Apple bought the first batch of aluminium produced this way in 2019. It is potentially the most important change in smelting technology since Hall-Héroult.

Applications

Alloy families – from the 1xxx to the 8xxx series

Pure aluminium is soft; its usefulness is determined by alloys. The international designation system divides wrought alloys into the 1xxx to 8xxx series, according to the principal alloying element. The choice of additions makes it possible to "engineer" the metal for a specific application – from soft foil to aerospace alloys with the strength of steel.

Source: International aluminium alloy designation system (Aluminum Association).

Applications and the energy transition

Aluminium's application profile is defined by its two largest sectors – transport and construction – followed by packaging, electrical equipment and machinery. In transport, lightness counts: a lighter car, train or aircraft uses less energy throughout its life, which is why aluminium is a pillar of transport decarbonisation and electromobility. In renewable energy it forms the frames of photovoltaic modules and overhead transmission conductors; in construction – façades, joinery and roofing; in packaging – cans and foils with the highest recycling rates. The greener and more electrified the economy, the greater its appetite for aluminium.

Trade

CBAM and Europe's raw-material security

Energy intensity and exposure to "carbon leakage" have placed aluminium at the centre of EU climate-and-industrial policy. The CBAM mechanism (Regulation (EU) 2023/956) entered its definitive phase on 1 January 2026, under which importers of aluminium (among other goods) bear a real cost for the emissions embedded in the product – so as to equalise it with the carbon price paid in the EU under the ETS. Over the past two decades Europe has lost about two-thirds of its primary aluminium capacity, becoming a net importer. In parallel, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) classified aluminium as a critical and strategic EU raw material, setting 2030 targets (10% extraction, 40% processing, 25% recycling, ≤65% dependence on any single supplier).

Recycling

Recycling and the circular economy

Here aluminium reveals its second, almost ideal nature. Remelting scrap uses only about 5% of the energy needed for primary production (a saving of about 95%), and the metal loses none of its properties across successive cycles – it is sometimes called a "permanent material". The scale effect is spectacular: about 75% of all aluminium ever produced (out of about 1.5 billion tonnes) remains in use, and more than 30 million tonnes of scrap is recycled each year. The recycling input rate reaches about 32%, recovery from end-of-life vehicles about 90%, and from beverage cans about 75% (2023). This makes aluminium recycling one of the pillars of the European circular economy and a key area of activity for the Chamber's members.

Poland

The Polish context

Poland does not today smelt primary aluminium at scale – energy intensity and electricity costs are decisive. It is, however, a significant European processor and recycler: in the extrusion of profiles, rolling, and the recovery of aluminium from scrap. It is precisely in these links – processing and recycling – that Poland's advantage in the value chain lies. Under CBAM and the CRMA, the importance of this potential is growing: low-carbon recycling is becoming a strategic asset, and Polish importers of aluminium products are subject to new obligations.

Data and sources

Datasets

Every chart in this profile has table and source views and the buttons “Download CSV”, “Copy CSV” and “Cite”. The full list of datasets is below.

Figures in the tiles

Method notes

• Production refers to 2025: world – International Aluminium Institute, countries – U.S. Geological Survey (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, estimates); smelting energy intensity – IAI (2025), carbon footprint – IAI (2024, from mining to casting), prices – World Bank. The share of secondary materials (RIR) dates from 2018 – the latest value published by the IAI.
• Tiles carry a source and year tag; the same figure in a tile, the text and a table comes from a single record.

Bibliography

• International Aluminium Institute – Primary Aluminium Production; Primary Aluminium Smelting Energy Intensity; Primary Aluminium Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity. international-aluminium.org/statistics/primary-aluminium-production
• U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 – Aluminum; Bauxite and Alumina. pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-aluminum.pdf
• World Bank, Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026. thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/74e8be41ceb20fa0da750cda2f6b9e4e-0050012026/related/CMO-Pink-Sheet-October-2026.pdf
• European Aluminium.
• Regulation (EU) 2023/956 (CBAM).

How to cite

Economic Chamber of Non-Ferrous Metals and Recycling, Knowledge base – Aluminium. https://igmnir.org/en/knowledge/aluminium/ (data as of 24 Oct 2026).