Alcoa brings force majeure to an end for its Western Australian alumina operation

According to an S&P Global Commodity Insights report on Wednesday, April 26, Alcoa has withdrawn the force majeure for its Western Australian alumina business. The news came after Alcoa spokesperson confirmed the matter. But before that, there was hearsay in the market regarding the force majeure lift from several sources as early as April 21.

Alcoa first notified of the force majeure to its alumina customers in January 2023, resulting from the impact of lower natural gas supply in Western Australia, cutting about 30 per cent of output at the Kwinana alumina refinery.

Per the company’s 1Q2023 results, Kwinana refinery was being operated at 20 per cent or 438,000 tonnes per year less capacity as of March 31, as one of the five digesters remained offline.

Although the gas supply situation has improved now, the digester remains closed due to the bauxite grade issues, said Alumina Limited on April 20. So, the natural gas supply disruption is no more a reason for Kwinana’s reduced output.

Alcoa warned the impact of lower bauxite quality on alumina operations might continue till 2024.

The Kwinana refinery has a nameplate capacity of nearly 2.2 million tonnes per year, of which 85 per cent is smelter-grade alumina and the rest is non-metallurgical. The refinery is a joint venture between Alcoa (60 per cent share) and Alumina Limited (40 per cent share).