MELBOURNE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - A vote by striking workers atAlcoa's giant west Australian operations will close onThursday, with the union anticipating a strong "no" vote thatcould prolong the four-week old strike.
Around 1,500 workers at three alumina refineries and twobauxite mines in Western Australia state walked out on Aug. 8over a new workplace agreement that they say does not offersufficient job security.
The refineries account for around 9.3 million tonnes ofcapacity or some 8 percent of the world supply of alumina, whichis used to make aluminium.
An extended outage threatens to further stress a marketalready suffering from a global shortfall.
An Alcoa spokeswoman said the company had contingency plansto ensure operations can continue during industrial action.
"We have not experienced any signficant impact from theaction to date and will continue to assess the situation as itdevelops," she said.
A shortfall in alumina has grown this year due to U.S.sanctions against global aluminium maker UC Rusal andthe partial closure of the world's biggest alumina plant, NorskHydro's Alunorte in Brazil.
Prices for alumina futures traded at $558 a tonnethis week, up by a quarter from $450 in late June. In thephysical market, a recent tender went for $632, traders said.
Australian producers of alumina, South 32 andAlumina Ltd , both said last month that they expect highprices for the alumina to stretch into next year based on tightglobal supply, while Chinese producers have stepped up exports.Alcoa last year also won regulatory approval to ship 2.5million tonnes of West Australian bauxite to third-partycustomers, on top of the production it supplies to feed itsWestern Australian alumina refineries.
Alcoa said it had offered employees a generous agreementthat provided income growth on top of already "very competitivepay and conditions."
Australian Workers' Union (AWU) Western Australian branchsecretary Mike Zoetbrood said the union had seen "no movement onthe 'job security' issue" with Alcoa, and was waiting for theballot result due this Friday.
"We anticipate a very strong 'no' vote from the members,"Zoetbrood said in an emailed response to questions.
Alcoa also said there had been an "operational issue" at thePinjarra alumina refinery over the weekend that was "unrelated"to the industrial action. The problem has been fixed.
The refineries and mines are owned by Alcoa of AustraliaLtd, which is part of the AWAC group of companies and owned 60percent by Alcoa and 40 percent by Alumina Ltd.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; editing by Richard Pullin)
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