The results of a major investigation into the business of Aughinish Alumina, published today, provide worrying evidence about how alumina produced in Co Limerick is entering the Russian military supply chain. The supply chain starts when bauxite from Africa and South America arrives on the Shannon estuary for processing into alumina. The Aughinish plant is owned by Rusal, a Russian company, which also owns smelters in Siberia to which much of the output from the Co Limerick plant is exported. Nor is it possible to prove definitively that the output of the Co Limerick plant is used in arms production. But industry experts point out that aluminium producers such as the big Russian smelters would not typically use alumina from specific suppliers in different ways.

Source: The Irish Times March 24, 2026 10:30 UTC