Optima Systems – Russian Aluminium Statement

Optima Systems welcomes European Aluminium’s position on the Russian Aluminium ban. It’s right they’re putting pressure on the European Union to address the ongoing exclusion of major aluminium product categories from its current sanction regime.

It places the bloc as an outlier and at odds with the US, UK and Canada which have introduced strict measures on metals coming from Russia, including the recent, high profile ban on the London and Chicago metal exchanges.

As a leading primary user of aluminium products, we are proud to work with responsible, transparent and sustainability-focused partners like ASI-certified Norsk Hydro, our exclusive extrusion partner, when it comes to sourcing the aluminium billets used in the production of our partitions. This is exemplified within our switch to its Circal 75R, which we know has been manufactured without Russian input or influence.

To avoid Russian aluminium coming into the UK through Europe, we would expect the UK Government to engage with European Aluminium and compel the EU Commission to introduce a similar ban.

The EU’s current stance is completely at odds with those of other G7 international partners and, like European Aluminium, we feel a united front is essential.

Fundamentally, there’s a distinct moral obligation to these sanctions, which the EU needs to appreciate as a valued trading partner, as we are sure no UK firm would be happy to know that they are inadvertently buying and supplying products which supports the war in the Ukraine.

It’s now time for action and we wholeheartedly support European Aluminium in its campaign to persuade the EU to introduce tougher measures when it comes to the import of Russian aluminium.