Alunorte Refinery Cut Sparks Global Aluminium Market Disruption

The aluminium industry's stability has been disrupted due to a significant cut in alumina output by Alunorte refinery, operated by Norsk Hydro ASA. The refinery, located in Brazil's Pará state, reduced its production to 50% of nameplate capacity following disruptions to contracted natural gas supply.

Alunorte is a critical supplier in the global aluminium market, and its output variations have disproportionate weight in supply calculations. A 50% reduction at Alunorte effectively removes approximately 3.15 million tonnes of annualised alumina output from global availability.

The disruption was caused by a failure in contracted energy supply, which is essential for the calcination stage of the Bayer process. Hydro responded with a contingency framework, including spot gas procurement, LNG terminal access, and production curtailment.