Ahead of his attendance at the Choose France summit, Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Chairman of GFG Alliance, has announced the creation of a new global low carbon aluminium champion.

The move follows the consolidation of the GFG Alliance’s steel businesses into a single global entity, Liberty Steel Group, in October last year.

The new aluminium group, to be known as ALVANCE Aluminium Group (ALVANCE), will be headquartered in Paris and will bring together all of GFG Alliance’s assets across the aluminium supply chain – from raw materials through to finished components – to drive synergies that will help the business meet ever increasing market challenges and take full advantage of opportunities to expand.

ALVANCE will be the first GFG Alliance global vertical to be headquartered outside of its international headquarters in London and will initially group together the GFG Alliance’s existing high-value upstream aluminium production activities in the UK and France together with its French engineering businesses. ALVANCE has an experienced multinational management team and is in the process of appointing a Board of Directors to oversee the highest standards of corporate governance.

Mr Gupta has also revealed that he is extending GFG Alliance’s carbon neutral 2030 (CN30) programme to ALVANCE. Liberty announced a commitment to make its Liberty steel business carbon neutral by 2030 in October 2019. ALVANCE will now share this CN30 target, with the aim of setting ALVANCE on course to become the new standard bearer for sustainable aluminium production, GREENALUMINIUM.

ALVANCE’s portfolio includes Europe’s largest aluminium smelter ALVANCE Aluminium Dunkerque, the UK’s only remaining aluminium smelter at Fort William, Scotland, ALVANCE Wheels (Chateauroux), France’s only manufacturer of aluminium wheels in Chateauroux and engine cast part producers ALVANCE Aluminium Technologies Poitou and ALVANCE Cast Products Poitou. ALVANCE has also conditionally agreed to acquire Belgium’s Duffel aluminium rolling facilities and is participating in an approval process with the European Commission’s competition team.

The Group already exploits low-carbon power sources. ALVANCE’s Fort William smelter is powered by GFG Alliance’s hydro-electric station located on the slopes of Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain.

In France, the Dunkerque smelter makes use of the existing low-carbon French energy mix derived mainly from nuclear and hydro sources.

Sanjeev Gupta, Chairman of GFG Alliance, said: “The creation of ALVANCE highlights the global nature of our ambitions. We’ve made huge progress in both consolidating our steel network worldwide and delivering higher value-added products to our consumers. ALVANCE now aims to establish itself as a champion for GREENALUMINIUM. Extending our CN30target to this part of the business is both a logical and necessary step in its development.

“Given the rise in customer demand for stronger, lighter-weight, recyclable materials, we see aluminium as a key opportunity for growth and sustainable profitability. However, we operate in an international market that’s both cyclical and under competitive pressure, and so by combining our businesses, we’re looking to achieve greater synergies, increase efficiencies and ensure the business is fit to meet the challenges ahead. ALVANCE is a key supplier to Europe’s automotive and general industrial space so the unique selling point of GREENALUMINIUM is a strong marketing proposition.

“As the majority of our current aluminium assets are in France it was a natural decision to headquarter our new operation in Paris. We are immensely proud to be playing a role in the reindustrialisation of a country with such a proud manufacturing and engineering heritage and look forward to ALVANCE helping us make even greater strides towards our goals. In Scotland, we are seeking to extend ALVANCE’s aluminium investments in Fort William.”

Arnaud de Weert, ALVANCE Chief Executive, said: “I am delighted to be taking this new ALVANCE business forward for GFG Alliance. ALVANCE sits at a pivotal moment in its international development and with a rich history in aluminium, I can think of no better place than France to base this new enterprise. GFG Alliance aims to be at the vanguard of sustainable production of materials that will help the automotive and other sectors deliver lighter, greener, more efficient products – ALVANCE will champion this programme with GREENALUMINIUM. To do this ALVANCE will drive synergies, capitalise fully on our existing skills and build new expertise in order to serve the different parts and evolving needs of these markets.”