Russian aluminum producer UC Rusal has started attracting a premium for its low-carbon primary aluminum shipments despite resistance from buyers.
Gregory Barker, chairman of EN+, a major shareholder of Rusal told the media before the Reuters Global Energy Transition conference starting this week, that Rusal is already commanding a small premium for its Allow platform aluminum shipments. This product has a carbon footprint of 4mt per tonne of aluminum produced.
Barker, however, declined to quote an exact figure regarding the premiums but said that it was currently a small amount. Recently, the EU also hinted at a carbon border tax which it would implement on all major base metals. The EN+ chairman said that this ruling could lead to “unintended consequences.”
Rusal is in the process of spinning off into two separate companies, one of which will focus entirely on this product (green aluminum), for which this premium will play a major role in feasibility.