EU to eliminate tariffs on Aluminum and Petrochemical from Gulf

Tariffs on the import of aluminum and basic petrochemicals to the European Union will be eliminated when a proposed free-trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council is introduced this year. A free-trade agreement between the 27-nation EU and the GCC has been in negotiation for more than 15 years. It has gathered pace in the last year as energy prices have soared and trade between the two blocks has increased.
 
With this, the aluminum market in Europe will get opened up. The 6% tariff on aluminium will be eliminated and tariff on basic petrochemicals products will go to zero. A lowering of the tariffs would reduce protection for aluminum producers within the EU, including Alcoa Inc. and Alcan Inc., Norsk Hydro ASA, Glencore International AG and Rio Tinto Plc, and petrochemicals producers, including Bayer AG, Dow Chemical Co. and BASF AG. The world's biggest aluminum producers are closing units in Europe and the U.S. to move to the Middle East, where labor and energy are cheaper. Power accounts for one-third of the cost of making aluminum. Emirates Aluminum is planning to build the world's largest aluminum smelter in the U.A.E. with an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons.