The aluminum industry in Italy must be recognized as strategic

The secretary General of FACE (Federation of Aluminum Consumers in Europe) recently requested the recognition of a strategic status from the aluminum industry. In this way, many aluminum processors and users in the EU, and in particular in Italy, could have contained the economic damage deriving from the production blockade imposed by the DPCM for the coronavirus emergency.

Because of the latter, in fact, it is estimated that many production sectors operating in the field of aluminum surface treatments, in March recorded a drop in production of about 50%. "In light of the measures launched in many countries to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to recognize the essential of the entire aluminum value chain, both at European and national level, taking into account the strategic value of the same for many key activities of the production system and for sustainability policies, "explains tje seretary of FACE. It was a sentence pronounced following the decree of 22 March last, in which all metallurgy was excluded from the list of essential activities. But it is also useful in view of May 4, when the country could begin the so-called "phase 2", that is, that of a coordinated and strategic reopening of the production sectors.

Why the aluminum industry is strategic

The aluminum industry was not initially recognized as strategic, although it is such, given the use of components also in the health department. But not only that: the aluminum industry is a sector with a strategic value for the entire manufacturing sector, both Italian and European. In Italy it has almost a thousand direct businesses, most in Lombardy, between Bergamo, Brescia and the south-east of Milan, the areas most affected by the emergency, and produce about 12 billion euros per year. It must also be said that the chain is made up of over 90% of small and medium-sized companies that make a fundamental contribution to the entire Italian production system, including that of public health and the food sector, which are strategic for the country's vital continuity. And then, aluminum is also useful for electronic instrumentation, means of communication, energy transmission and distribution, and means of transport. All industries that cannot be ignored, especially during the emergency and the blockade.