Primary aluminium at AMAG
Milestones and plans for the future
Since its foundation, AMAG has made impressive progress in its primary aluminium activities. The company was founded as a smelting plant and began producing primary aluminium in 1939. As the years went by, AMAG adjusted its strategy in response to changing market conditions. In the 1980s, the state-owned company was restructured as it was no longer efficient to operate the smelter on site. In the course of this restructuring, the decision was taken to transform AMAG into an international aluminium corporation, shifting its focus away from primary aluminium production and towards metal processing.
Nevertheless, to ensure a supply of primary aluminium, the company sought opportunities to acquire shareholdings in other smelters. In 1989, AMAG and six other companies established a consortium to construct the Alouette aluminium smelter in Sept-Îles, Québec, Canada. The construction of the Aluminerie Alouette was completed within three years, with the facility producing its first ton of aluminium in 1992. The final electrolysis cell in Ranshofen was decommissioned that same year.For AMAG, acquiring a stake in the Canadian smelter was an important step towards securing a long-term supply of primary aluminium from a stable country with a sustainable energy source. With direct access to 20% of the facility’s annual production volume - which today exceeds 600,000 tons - this arrangement has reliably covered AMAG’s primary aluminium requirements ever since. Although AMAG has placed a strategic focus on implementing a high scrap utilization rate, it will still need primary aluminium in the future to produce high-quality rolled products and cast alloys. However, the availability of low-CO2 primary aluminium on the global market is highly limited at present. A number of factors influence the carbon footprint of an aluminium smelter. The most significant difference between individual smelters is the energy source for their electricity supply. While the use of electricity from coal-fired or gas-fired plants leads to CO2 emissions of 17 tons and 8 tons of CO2 per ton of aluminium respectively, the Alouette smelter is fully reliant on electricity from renewable energy sources, namely hydroelectric power, which means there are no CO2 emissions associated with the energy source.. Thanks to highly efficient plant technology and continuous optimizations, including to the anode and cathode linings, the facility’s CO2 emissions have been further reduced over time.
AMAG AL4®ever now also for primary aluminium
At less than 4 tons of CO2 per ton of aluminium, AMAG AL4®ever is one of the lowest-carbon primary aluminium variants in the world. Like the cast and rolled products in the AL4®ever product portfolio, this primary aluminium variant is assessed for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions - from cradle to gate. Certification is awarded by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance in accordance with the relevant ISO standards for sustainable aluminium, namely ISO 14064-3:2019 and ISO 14067:2018.
Expanding the AL4®ever product portfolio into the primary aluminium segment closes the loop in terms of minimizing emissions throughout the aluminium value chain. By combining the activities of an aluminium smelter, a foundry, a rolling plant and a parts supplier, AMAG has all levers throughout the value chain at its disposal to influence the carbon footprint of a given product. This is unique and makes AMAG a partner of choice for low-carbon products.
