Webinar recording - Strategically securing aluminum in volatile times: How HYMER Leichtmetallbau ensures quality, compliance and security of supply

Record high aluminum prices, soaring energy and logistics costs and stricter regulatory requirements due to CBAM and ESG specifications pose immense challenges for purchasing teams today. In the webinar "Strategically securing aluminum in volatile times - How HYMER Leichtmetallbau ensures quality, compliance & security of supply", Brian Neumann (Strategic Buyer, HYMER) and Julius Reinboth (Business Development, Tacto) share their best practices: They show how to make strategic location and supplier decisions and define hedging triggers - without exploding operational costs.

Initial situation - the four biggest pain points

‍

• Price volatility - LME price jumps and rising energy prices make budget planning and costing more difficult.

• Global dependencies - China accounts for over 55% of global production - a risk in the event of political tensions.

• Regulatory pressure - CBAM, ESG evidence and Tier N transparency increase the documentation effort.

• Limited capacities - European pressing plants are working to capacity, lead times are getting longer, special profiles are in short supply.
  ‍
  ‍

HYMER's approach

‍
1 . Strategic choice of location - suppliers almost exclusively in politically stable EU countries; risky regions (e.g. Serbia) are consistently avoided.

‍2. forward-looking hedging for price protection - stock market and currency signals determine the timing of hedging - price risks are managed proactively, not borne reactively.

‍3. CBAM & regulatory readiness - Internal processes and data collection are set up in such a way that current requirements are met - at the same time, there is sufficient flexibility to map future regulatory steps in an uncomplicated manner.‍

‍
‍

Key take-aways for the purchase of raw materials

‍

1. Check locations specifically - political stability, energy prices and ESG standards are part of an integrated risk assessment.
2. Hedging as a hedge - price hedging with clearly defined triggers measurably reduces budget uncertainties.
3. Establish regulatory fitness at an early stage - CBAM reports and CO₂ certificates can only be delivered on time with complete supplier data.
4. Transparency instead of Excel sprints - a central data and document platform reduces manual effort and prevents compliance gaps.
5. Quality beats cheap imports - supposed price advantages from low-wage countries disappear as soon as testing and transportation costs are factored in.
6. Keeping an eye on cost factors - with cost modeling analyses, energy, freight and raw material costs per item can be tracked in a structured way and reduced in a targeted manner.
   
   ‍

Conclusion

‍Aluminumremains a critical lever for costs, quality and supply. HYMER shows: Choosing locations wisely, hedging prices and integrating CBAM compliance turns risks into competitive advantages. Digital transparency with Tacto makes the difference between reactive crisis management and proactive control.

Brian Neumann (HYMER) and Julius Reinboth (Tacto) show how modern Procurement procurement is based on three levers: location selection in geopolitically stable regions, data-based hedging via stock exchange and currency rates and automated cost modeling of all price drivers. Ongoing LME monitoring and close coordination with extrusion plants provide purchasing teams with transparency in order to assess risks at an early stage and prevent material shortages - turning Procurement into a proactive value driver.