In H1 2022 primary aluminium production amounted to an estimated 33.3m tonnes, of which the smelters in China alone have produced some 19.3m tonnes or 58%. Due to their large CO_2 footprint, smelters depending on fossil power are switching more and more to renewable energy sources. CO_2 restrictions and high energy prices make aluminium production in some locations too expensive, and so producers decide to idle potrooms and whole smelters, awaiting more favourable times. In the meantime, casthouses try to switch from primary to secondary aluminium smelting in order to compensate for the missing aluminium volume.
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