International Trade committee  One option would be to bring aluminum from the Middle East, for example, and process it here and return it to the markets. That might be a solution, but it wouldn't make much sense. We would have to do this kind of thing to be able to export aluminum to Asia, even though we're in the aluminum valley and we are surrounded by aluminum smelters.

International Trade committee  When we created Nature Alu, our goal was to become part of the energy transition through high-purity aluminum. High-purity aluminum is found in lithium ion batteries, aluminum-air batteries and electrolytic capacitors, which are widely used in electric cars. This is one of the market segments we wanted to break into.

International Trade committee  These countries manufacture a lot of electronic components. There are also semiconductors, which can be made from high‑purity aluminum. We think that the opportunities in these countries will increase greatly in the future. Many electronic components and capacitors will be produced in these countries, and Nature Alu could be a major supplier.

International Trade committee  In September 2020, when the aluminum tax was abolished, people thought that the situation was settled for Canada, but it isn't settled for the exporters, who still have to buy their aluminum by paying this 10% surplus, which is still in the price. We are really at a disadvantage and would like to be compensated so that the situation can go back to the way it was before the imposition of section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, when the gap was about $100 between Asia and North America.

International Trade committee  Madam Chair, members of the Committee, good afternoon. I am Denis Mazerolle, president of Nature Alu. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you the challenges of Nature Alu, a new company located in Saguenay, Quebec. First, I'll explain what we do. Nature Alu buys primary aluminum from Aluminerie Alouette, located in Sept-Îles, through its supplier, Albecour, and purifies it to a level of 99.99% or more using its innovative process designed entirely in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.