Participants in the seaborne alumina market have an increasingly bullish outlook for prices amid operational disruptions at the Jamalco refinery in Jamaica following a fire on Sunday August 22.
The fire started
at refinery's separate powerhouse, which produces the energy needed for the refining of alumina at the plant.
Though a full assessment of the damage has yet to emerge, market participants are expecting the operational disruptions to be prolonged.
"I heard that they might not [be able to operate normally] by the end of this year because the oil pipes were seriously broken," an alumina producer source based in Shanghai said.
The 1.5-million-tonnes-per-year Jamalco alumina refinery, in which Noble Group Holdings hold a 55% stake, produced 1 million tonnes of alumina in 2020, according to market sources.
Rippling effect
The disruption is expected to further tighten the supply of alumina in the Atlantic region, which is already under pressure following
damage sustained by the Alumar refinery in Brazil earlier in July.
These supply constraints will likely filter out to the Pacific region as well,...