Aluminium: EU ETS reform raises cost risks – Commerzbank

FXStreet Insights Team FXStreet

Commerzbank’s Norman Liebke highlights that EU ETS reform, including new benchmark calculations, could significantly raise costs for European Aluminium recyclers and refineries. With fallback benchmarks set to drop sharply, companies may need to buy more allowances, pressuring profitability in a globally priced market. Industry group European Aluminium warns this could undermine Aluminium recycling competitiveness in Europe.

EU ETS threatens recyclers’ margins

"The upcoming reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS I) is intended to ease the burden on companies and give them more time to decarbonize. To this end, in addition to the reform of the market stability reserve and plans for a decarbonization fund, a new method for calculating benchmark values - which is crucial for the free allocation of allowances - has recently been presented."

"These are set to decrease by 34% for the 2026–2030 period compared to the 2021–2025 values, which would require recyclers and refineries to purchase significantly more allowances."

"According to the association, this would have a massive impact on profitability, as the higher costs cannot simply be passed on and aluminium prices are set globally. Thus, the reform of the EU ETS threatens to undermine aluminium recycling in Europe."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)

Author

FXStreet Insights Team

FXStreet

The FXStreet Insights Team is a group of journalists that handpicks selected market observations published by renowned experts. The content includes notes by commercial as well as additional insights by internal and external analysts.

GBP/USD retreats from multi-day highs around 1.3550

GBP/USD now gives away part of the earlier advance toward the 1.3550 region, or multi-week peaks, looking to consolidate around the 1.3530 region on Wednesday. Cable’s continuation of its march north follows the modest downside pressure on the Greenback after US CPI readings matched consensus in July.

EUR/USD eases from tops, back to 1.1550

EUR/USD now surrenders some gains and recedes toward the 1.1550 regio on Wednesday. Despite the knee-jerk, spot keeps the bid tone intact amid the offered stance in the US Dollar, all in the wake of in-line US inflation data in July. However, the fragile landscape in the Middle East is expected to put a floor to the occasional downward trend in the buck.

Gold challenges 10-week highs near $4,450

Gold now pushes harder and climbs to new two-month highs near $4,450 per troy ounce on Wednesday. The yellow metal’s solid performance comes on the back of a weaker US Dollar and declining US Treasuty yields across the curve as investors assess the latest US CPI data.

Ripple lags recovery as exchange reserves expand

Ripple is trading within a broadly constrained technical structure, with support at $1.00 and key moving averages limiting its recovery potential. In August, the remittance token declined by approximately 6.5%, extending its total pullback to around 14% from July's $1.18 peak.

911 million shares freed: Why SpaceX rallied into its own supply

The most heavily trailed supply event of the year landed on August 6, and the SpaceX (SPCX) stock went up. Roughly 911.5 million shares held by insiders and early backers became eligible to trade, around 43% more than the entire float sold at the listing.

9-3: Is the Federal Reserve’s vote tally Warsh's new forward guidance?

The rate did not move. Neither did the statement, and that’s the more interesting fact. Set the July 29 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement beside the one issued on June 17, and the two documents are identical apart from a single verb and a paragraph at the bottom naming three dissenters.