EU Aluminum Import Duty Cut Seen In Force By End May-Official

The enforcement of a European Union agreement to halve aluminum import duties could be imposed as early as the third week of May, an E.U. official said Thursday.

"During the third week (of May) or by the end of May the aluminum duty cut could be enforced on all member states," said Tomas Kucirek, head of unit for the E.U.'s tariff economics and customs duties division.

Earlier this month, the E.U.'s national governments agreed to cut import duties on unwrought, non-alloyed aluminum to 3% from 6% and to review the duties in three years.

During the first week of May, the agreement will be sent to an E.U. ambassadors level meeting for approval and the week after that, to the E.U. Council of Ministers, Kucirek said.

Once the agreement is approved by the Council of Ministers, it will be published in the E.U. Official Journal said Kucirek. Three days following publication in the journal, it will be enforced on all member states, he added.

The issue has been a source of contention in the E.U. since 1997, when non-E.U. aluminum producers first called on the E.U. to lower aluminum tariffs.

In January, the European Commission proposed to cut the duties to 3% from 6% retroactively from Jan. 1, 2007, and to eliminate them altogether by 2009. However, the proposal to scrap duties altogether sparked opposition in Germany, France and Spain, where many smelters are located.

"It looks impossible to make it to this second step," said Kucirek, referring to the complete elimination of the duty. "In three years' time, we will have another look at what to do," Kucirek added.

Poland has been the main driver to lower the duty, because many of Poland's aluminum manufacturers rely on Russian imports.

The E.U. consumes 5.2 million metric tons of primary aluminum a year, and produces 2.3 million tons, according to the Federation of Aluminum Consumers in Europe.