The global alumina supply picture would likely look very different were it not for the introduction and adoption of alumina indices published by price reporting agencies, according to Mark Roggensinger, senior market analyst at Hydro.
Had alumina prices been locked into long-term contracts as a percentage of the aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange, prevailing alumina prices would have been lower, taking industry data into account. As a result, refinery margins would have been put under serious pressure, especially during the low price environment of 2015, Roggensinger told delegates at Metal Bulletin's 24th Bauxite and Alumina Conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica. "The end result would have been that a lot of refineries would have shut down, in an effort to lift the price in one way or another. This would have meant that smelters...