The Aluminium Federation (ALFED) has officially submitted a detailed response to the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) consultation launched by the UK government. The response was formulated after in-depth discussions with the full spectrum of the aluminium industry—including producers, recyclers, processors, and fabricators—at a special roundtable co-hosted with Leyton.

BICS is designed to cut electricity policy costs for energy-intensive industries, but ALFED members pointed out that the current BICS proposal fails to align with the aluminium sector’s unique value chain structure and energy consumption characteristics. The federation’s submission highlights these mismatches and calls for major revisions to the scheme to ensure fair and effective support.

A core demand from members is the expansion of BICS eligibility criteria. Many midstream aluminium processing businesses, such as those engaged in polishing, anodising, coating, cutting, bending, forging, and casting, are highly energy-intensive but do not fall under the SIC and HS codes specified in the government’s proposal. ALFED stressed that these midchain processes are integral to aluminium manufacturing and must be included for BICS to reflect the industry’s actual operations.

Scrap recyclers and processors also emerged as a key focus of the discussion. Industry players warned that excluding these businesses would hinder the UK’s domestic aluminium scrap retention efforts and undermine national circular economy goals, as scrap preparation, sorting, and processing are both electricity-intensive and critical to circularity. ALFED thus called for recyclers to be explicitly added to the scheme’s eligible entities.

Members also voiced strong concerns over the proposed electricity intensity test for BICS eligibility. They noted that the existing Energy-Intensive Industries (EII) scheme has long been flawed: high raw material costs skew electricity intensity ratios, disqualifying many genuinely energy-intensive operations. ALFED recommended removing raw material costs from the calculation formula and reviewing the intensity thresholds to avoid repeating the EII scheme’s restrictive effects. If the government insists on retaining the EII calculation method for BICS, the federation urged lowering the threshold values or conducting further consultations to prevent eligible aluminium businesses from being unfairly excluded. Additionally, members emphasized the need to recognize mixed-fuel production sites—especially aluminium melters, which rely heavily on gas due to barriers like grid access limitations and high connection costs that slow electrification.

The proposed April 2027 implementation date for BICS was another major point of contention. With electricity prices remaining persistently high, industry members unanimously argued that this timeline is too delayed and immediate support is needed. ALFED has urged the government to speed up the scheme’s rollout and consider introducing limited backdating provisions once BICS parameters are finalized.

Nadine Bloxsome, Chief Executive of ALFED, stated that BICS could be a game-changing support tool for energy-intensive manufacturers, but only if it is tailored to the aluminium sector’s real-world complexity. She reiterated the federation’s key demands: broader eligibility, refined electricity intensity testing, accelerated implementation, and comprehensive support for the full value chain (including recyclers and service-oriented manufacturers). ALFED will continue collaborating closely with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to advocate for the aluminium industry as BICS develops.

Finally, ALFED is encouraging all businesses across the aluminium value chain to submit their own responses to the BICS consultation before the deadline of 19 January 2026, and will keep members updated on progress in negotiations with the government.