It is a pleasure to provides this discussion paper, The Building Blocks of Britain. Both authors are well known to ALFED through their previous engagement with the Federation, whether through research projects that have helped to evidence the role of aluminium in the UK economy and counsel or through their long-standing involvement in industry leadership, including the ALFED Presidency.
This paper sets out many of the strategic challenges and opportunities facing the UK metals sector and the vital importance of the metals sector to UK national economic competitiveness, defence and infrastructure. Several themes resonate particularly strongly with the aluminium industry: the urgent need for competitive industrial energy prices to safeguard investment and decarbonisation; the importance of aligning UK and EU trade frameworks to prevent carbon leakage and protect competitiveness; and the opportunity to retain more value at home through a stronger approach to recycling and circularity.
