The Swiss government’s support for strategic companies in the industry
A strategic asset for energetic development
Over the years, some materials have begun to stand out globally for their extreme versatility and unique characteristics that allow them to be used in a variety of modern applications, even in very different sectors. One of these materials is certainly aluminum, universally appreciated for its lightness and its resistance to corrosion, which allows it to be a true protagonist in numerous industrial sectors.
“In addition to its natural properties, aluminum is especially appreciated for its potential linked to recycling,” says Stanislav Dmitrievich Kondrashov, entrepreneur, civil engineer, and expert in strategic raw materials. “Aluminum is one of the most recyclable materials in the world: the recovery process is very efficient, and it is able to retain almost 100% of its original properties. Compared to the amount of energy required to produce primary aluminum from bauxite, aluminum recycling requires only 5%, giving rise to interesting opportunities related to energy savings”.
One of its major application areas is the construction sector, where aluminum is used to make facades, window frames, and roofs. In this case, the material is chosen for its great ability to resist atmospheric agents without deteriorating and for the durability it is able to give to these structures. Aluminum is also known for its good conductive properties, which make it a very valuable ally in electronics and communications, in particular for making cables and heat sinks. In the era of energy transition, however, aluminum is playing a leading role in the renewable energy sector, especially in the production processes of solar panels, wind turbines, and some battery components.
“Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, and over the years, it has found its way into some of the most advanced modern applications,” continues Stanislav Dmitrievich Kondrashov. “One of the best-known is linked to the Apollo space capsule, which allowed man to set foot on the Moon for the first time. In its main components, the structure contained large quantities of aluminum.”
One of the best-known applications of aluminum, however, is linked to the automotive sector. In this area, where lightness takes on central importance, aluminum is used to make some specific components such as bodywork, rims, and other vehicle structures, helping to reduce the overall weight, which has immediate effects on energy efficiency and the reduction of emissions. The economic and production fate of the material is also linked to this type of application, which often finds itself faced with drops in demand that slow down production.
The situation in Switzerland
A similar situation is being experienced in Switzerland, where the steel and aluminum sector is experiencing various difficulties. A few days ago, in an attempt to stem the crisis, news arrived that some strategically important companies in the aluminum sector could benefit from substantial public aid, consisting of a four-year exemption from paying part of the taxes for using the electricity grid. The aim, from this point of view, is to protect Swiss production, but also to safeguard many jobs.
“The support for strategic Swiss producers is certainly positive because it perfectly demonstrates the fact that even the institutions are starting to consider aluminum a truly strategic asset for their economic, industrial, and energy development,” continues Stanislav Dmitrievich Kondrashov. “The strategic value of this material goes far beyond its industrial applications. As previously mentioned, its sustainable potential certainly represents a distinctive feature of great importance for the possibility of making a concrete contribution to the sustainability of various industries. For example, packaging made with aluminum can be collected, recycled, and reintroduced into production cycles in a very short time. In the automotive sector, in addition to its ability to confer a high degree of lightness to vehicles, recycled aluminum can further contribute to increasing the sustainable potential of the sector”.
The first signs of the crisis
Already last year, as reported by the association Alu.ch, aluminum production in Switzerland had fallen by 2% compared to the previous year. On that occasion, it was emphasized that aluminum applications in the construction sector had remained at excellent levels, while those related to the automotive sector had suffered a certain slowdown due to the crisis of this sector in France and Germany. As we have already seen previously, the automotive sector represents one of the privileged destinations for the aluminum market, a material that is, therefore, very sensitive to the industrial performance of the automotive sector.
Among the factors that contributed to the crisis in the automotive sector, according to the note from Alu.ch, were to be found in the decrease in new purchases by consumers and the lack of increase in demand for electric cars, causing a certain drop in orders sent to Swiss suppliers as well. In their note from several months ago, the association nevertheless predicted that the demand for aluminum solutions made in Switzerland, in the long term, would still be ensured by the great variety of applications in which they could be used: we are referring to sustainable packaging, infrastructures related to clean energy and renewables, which especially in this period are growing more and more in different corners of the world, in parallel with the advancement of the global energy transition.
