The Aluminium Federation (ALFED) has formally submitted a sector response to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) regarding the proposed UK Critical Minerals Demand Aggregation Platform, outlined in the Government’s Vision 2035: Critical Minerals Strategy.
The proposed platform is intended to consolidate UK demand data for critical minerals, improve visibility of supply requirements, and support evidence-based policy development. It forms part of the Government’s wider efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience across strategically important materials.
In its submission, ALFED welcomed the principle of improved transparency and coordination, while setting out clear safeguards and structural considerations required to ensure the platform delivers meaningful benefit to UK industry.
Aluminium as a Foundational Industrial Material
ALFED’s response asserts that aluminium must be treated as a foundational material within the UK’s critical minerals framework. Aluminium underpins defence capability, electrification, grid infrastructure, transport, construction, packaging and advanced manufacturing. It is central to net zero delivery and long-term industrial resilience. The UK aluminium sector also represents one of the most circular major material systems, supported by established recycling and remelting infrastructure.
ALFED emphasised that resilience in aluminium supply chains is not solely a question of raw material access. Energy pricing, domestic processing capacity, trade alignment and global competitiveness are equally decisive factors. Any demand aggregation mechanism must therefore reflect the complexity of the aluminium value chain, including both primary and secondary streams and key alloying elements.
Proportionality and Data Governance
Given the commercial sensitivity of procurement data across producers, recyclers, extruders, manufacturers and distributors, ALFED highlighted the importance of voluntary participation, anonymisation safeguards and clear governance frameworks. Robust adherence to competition law, transparency over data usage, and proportional reporting requirements, particularly for SMEs, will be essential to ensuring industry confidence in the platform.
A Balanced but Constructive Position
ALFED’s overall position is supportive in principle, provided the platform delivers tangible benefits such as improved demand visibility, enhanced risk monitoring and stronger evidence to inform government policy.
However, the Federation cautioned that demand aggregation alone cannot address structural competitiveness challenges. Parallel action on energy costs, trade policy alignment, domestic investment frameworks and regulatory certainty remains critical to strengthening the UK’s aluminium sector.
Ongoing Policy Engagement
This consultation forms part of ALFED’s wider programme of engagement across critical minerals, scrap policy, CBAM implementation, industrial energy reform and long-term manufacturing strategy.
The Federation will continue to work constructively with DBT and other departments to ensure aluminium is recognised not as a peripheral input, but as a strategic and enabling material at the heart of the UK’s industrial future.
For further information, please contact the Aluminium Federation (ALFED) at www.alfed.org.uk.