The European Parliament has backed a non-binding call for a full ban on alumina exports to Russia, putting shipments from Ireland’s Aughinish Alumina refinery under renewed scrutiny, according to the European Parliament.
The resolution was approved in Strasbourg on 8 July by 460 votes to 136, with 59 abstentions. The alumina amendment passed by a show of hands, leaving no breakdown of individual votes. The measure does not impose sanctions or stop cargoes. Any binding EU prohibition would require agreement among all 27 member states.
Aughinish operates a dedicated deepwater terminal on the Shannon estuary in County Limerick within the Shannon Foynes port system. Its 285-metre outer berth can accommodate ships of up to 90,000 dwt, while the inner berth handles vessels of up to 40,000 dwt. More than half of Aughinish Alumina’s exports since 2023 went to Rusal-owned smelters in Russia. Those smelters sold more than $650m of aluminium to ASK, which supplied more than 40 Russian arms companies subject to EU sanctions.
No individual shipment of Irish alumina was traced to a specific weapon because raw materials from different sources are mixed during production. Aughinish said it operates “in strict compliance with all applicable European Union laws, including sanctions, export control measures and trade regulations” and denied that alumina from the Irish refinery enters Russian weapons production.
Irish Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke said on 9 July that a government review of Aughinish exports was expected within 10 days. The government’s current understanding was that about 44% of the refinery’s exports in 2025 went to Russia.
Aughinish Alumina began production in 1983, has annual capacity of 1.915m tonnes and employs about 460 people.
Shannon Foynes Port Company operates the port system containing the separate Aughinish and Foynes terminals.