"Aluminum is a strategic material”: insights from Marcus Becker, Chief Procurement Officer at Constellium

Marcus Becker, Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer at Constellium, shares his perspective on the crisis in the Middle East, its implications for the aluminum industry, and the lessons it reinforces for Europe and North America’s industrial resilience.

Q: Marcus, how is the crisis in the Middle East affecting the global aluminum market?

The first impact is macroeconomic. We are already seeing global growth forecasts for 2026 being revised downward, while inflation expectations are moving back up. Energy markets reacted immediately, with sharp spikes in both oil and gas prices, and that naturally affects aluminum given how energy-intensive primary metal production is.

At the same time, the market is facing meaningful supply disruptions. Roughly 2 million tons of annualized aluminum capacity from the Middle East region is currently impacted, including reductions at Qatalum and Alba, as well as the shutdown of EGA’s EMAL smelter for an estimated 12 months. This comes at a time when the market was already relatively tight, and obviously has impacts on LME and regional metal premiums.

As a result, despite softer demand expectations, studies show that the global primary aluminum deficit could widen to around 1.4 million metric tons in 2026 before moderating in 2027. That is a significant imbalance for the industry.

Q: Why is Europe particularly exposed?

Europe remains structurally dependent on imported primary aluminum and semi-fabricated products. According to CRU estimates for 2025, Europe imports around 200,000 tons of slab, more than 300,000 tons of billets, and nearly 200,000 tons of primary foundry alloy from the Middle East, in addition to roughly 500,000 tons of primary ingot.

That said, the U.S. is also exposed with high purity aluminum supply, which is critical for aerospace and defense applications. 

This highlights how interconnected and vulnerable supply chains can become during geopolitical crises. When a region supplying key inputs experiences instability, the effects ripple quickly across the value chain, from raw materials to manufacturing costs and logistics.

Q: What does this mean for Constellium specifically?

In terms of metal supply, we do source some metal from the Middle East today, slabs, billets, and high purity, but they represent a relatively small percentage of our overall needs. At this stage, we believe the direct impact on Constellium is limited.

We have the flexibility to re-source through a combination of internal and external metal flows, and our procurement and operations teams are actively monitoring the situation on a daily basis and take required countermeasures. Like many industrial companies, we are also paying close attention to energy markets, logistics disruptions, and broader macroeconomic developments.

To wrap up on this topic, the overall impact from the conflict in the Middle East appears digestible at this point. The longer-term impacts remain uncertain and difficult to predict, but we are confident in our ability to manage our business in a volatile environment.

Q: What lessons should policymakers and the industry take away from this crisis?

The crisis reinforces a lesson we have discussed for years: aluminum is a strategic material, and securing access to it matters for economic resilience, energy transition, transportation, packaging, aerospace, and defense.

First, we need to ensure the long-term availability of primary aluminum, including protecting existing European smelters and supporting secure, affordable sources of primary metal in both Europe and North America.

Second, recycling and scrap retention must become even more strategic priorities. Aluminum scrap is an affordable and energy-efficient source of input for the industry, and strengthening recycling infrastructure is essential for competitiveness and sustainability. Today, half of our input is scrap.  As such, we believe policymakers should carefully consider measures to retain valuable scrap within Europe and North America, particularly by limiting exports to non-market economies.

Resilience comes from strong domestic industrial ecosystems, and the ability to secure both primary and recycled metal in times of uncertainty.