Alumina prices on an fob Australia basis were at a four-month high on Monday July 19 due to an increase in liquidity, with cargoes changing hands at higher prices.
Fastmarkets assessed its daily
alumina index, fob Australia, at $289.36 per tonne on Monday, the highest since March 19.
Demand for cargoes has increased over the past week. But the rise in prices also related to concern in the market about problems at the Alumar alumina refinery in Brazil.
"One of two ship unloaders at the Alumar refinery, which Alcoa operates, has sustained structural damage, reducing the amount of bauxite that can be unloaded," a spokesperson for Alcoa told Fastmarkets.
"Alumar is working to restore full unloading capacity in the shortest time possible while the damage is being assessed for necessary repairs," the spokesperson added.
"The refinery is currently supplementing the bauxite supply from the one functioning loader with existing, on-hand inventory, and has reduced production by one-third, to about 7,000 tonnes per day, until full unloading capacity is restored," the spokesperson said.
Alumar is located in Maranh??o...