ALLOW INERTA™ aluminium from Rusal tested in China first

The Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed Chinese company, Mingtai Aluminium, is testing ALLOW INERTIA™, the primary aluminium with the lowest carbon footprint in the world.

Mingtai Aluminum became the first company in China to test ALLOW INERTA™ aluminium at its plant, produced using the revolutionary inert anode technology, an advanced development by Rusal.

Viktor Mann, Technical Director of Rusal, said, "Rusal has developed and is actively enhancing metal production using innovative inert anode technology. ALLOW INERTIA™ is the primary aluminium with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. Using such metal allows for reducing the carbon footprint of final products to the lowest possible in the industry, which gives a competitive advantage over other manufacturers and helps companies achieve their sustainable development goals, including decarbonization of the supply chain."

"For Rusal, introducing this technology makes it possible to eliminate emissions of greenhouse gases and polyaromatic hydrocarbons at the electrolysis stage and reduce operating costs by reducing the consumption of anodes. The company is actively working to improve the technology for its implementation on an industrial scale and to meet the growing demand from end users."

Mingtai Aluminium plans to use ALLOW INERTA™ aluminium in producing foil for its further use in electrical engineering, mainly in batteries for electric vehicles.

YAN Shuaijie, the Production Director of Mingtai Group, said, "Mingtai Aluminium constantly analyses its pool of suppliers, taking into account the carbon footprint of raw materials. We strive to choose those suppliers who meet our decarbonisation goals. The use of ALLOW INERTIA™ is the next step towards creating products with minimal environmental impact."

The new technology of primary aluminium production uses anodes with non-consumable materials - ceramics or metal alloys- significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions during electrolysis. This solution cuts carbon dioxide emissions in Categories 1 and 2 (Scope 1 & 2) to 0.01 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of aluminium (compared to the industry average of 12.5 tonnes of CO₂).

ALLOW INERTA™ aluminium is produced at the pilot industrial site of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Plant (KrAZ), owned by Rusal. The first batches of metal were shipped in 2021 to the largest companies from the packaging, energy, automotive and electronics industries. More than 4,100 tonnes of metal were produced during pilot tests of the technology. ALLOW INERTA™.

China is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of aluminium foil. The country produced an estimated 4 million tonnes of foil in 2022, of which about 1.5 million tonnes were exported to countries worldwide. China's aluminium foil usage is estimated at 2.9 million tonnes in 2023, which accounts for about 48 per cent of the world's usage.

AL Circle's industry-focused report, 'Aluminium Foil and its End Uses - Current Trends and Forecast,' reveals a comprehensive review of the aluminium foil market across six regions, focusing on select end-use sectors. Features of this report include:

• Foil capacity and production.
• Usage trends.
• Demand forecast.
• End-use sector analysis.
• Recent industry developments and trends in international foil trade.

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