Global aluminium groups back new subsidy data

The aluminium associations of the United States, Europe, Canada, and Japan welcome the recent release by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD release makes publicly available an extensive database of subsidy estimates across 15 industrial sectors over the 20-year period 2005-2024.

These data show that industrial subsidies globally have been increasing in recent years, and in 2024 reached their highest level since the peak during the 2008-09 global economic crisis.

While subsidies are pervasive across countries and sectors, firms based in China are much larger recipients than firms located elsewhere, while the most heavily subsidised sectors are solar panels, semiconductors, and aluminium.

These new data reinforce earlier OECD analysis which outlined how China’s state enterprises are not just recipients of support, but are also major providers, particularly in the form of below-market finance by state banks.

State enterprises are also more likely to benefit from preferential competition rules, public procurement practices, and forced technology transfers.

Understanding this entire ecosystem – in which state support flows in many forms and in multiple directions across entire supply chains and fundamentally reshapes markets – is essential for governments looking to ensure fair competition globally.

Individual country trade defence measures, while welcome, are inadequate to address the scale, scope, and duration of China’s ecosystem of industrial support.

In welcoming the OECD release, Charles Johnson, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association; Paul Voss, Director General of European Aluminium; Jean Simard, President & CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada; and Yasushi Noto, Executive Director of the Japan Aluminium Association highlighted the new data on subsidies to the aluminium sector.

They said that the work of OECD over the past eight years has been invaluable in providing transparency around subsidies to the aluminium industry globally.

In addition, they believed that the latest release showed that China has been in a “subsidy league of its own” for the past two decades. For example:

• Over the period 2005-24, subsidies to the aluminium sector totalled USD 118.3 billion, of which China USD 101.4 billion (86% of total), OECD countries USD 5.4 billion, and Rest of the World (RoW) USD 11.5 billion.

• Subsidies in 2024 to the aluminium sector totalled USD 11.1 billion, of which China USD 10.2 billion (92% of total), OECD countries USD 399 million, and RoW USD 504 million.

• 2024 subsidies as a share of aluminium firm revenue were 4.4% in China, 0.5% in OECD countries, and 0.5% in RoW.

As a result of these subsidies, in 20 years, China’s share of global primary aluminium output grew from 11% to 61%.

The associations said that China's subsidy-supported position in the global aluminium market has expanded into semi-finished products, high-value manufacturing, and recycling.

The groups argued that this market share compromises the security of G7-plus nations by affecting access to the material.

To address this, the associations – which represent 1.75 million direct and indirect workers – are developing joint import monitoring systems and calling on governments to implement co-ordinated policies.

These include common tariffs, scrap export restrictions, and the reduction of trade barriers among partner countries to establish regional supply chains.