Portland Aluminium joint venture in Australia to reduce production

Alcoa Corporation announced that the Portland Aluminium smelter in the state of Victoria in Australia will begin to immediately reduce its overall production due to operational instability.

Production at the smelter will be reduced to approximately 75 per cent of the site’s total consolidated capacity of 358,000 tonnes per year. Alcoa’s share of the total capacity is 197,000 tonnes per year. The smelter, which has a total of 408 pots, had previously been operating at about 95 per cent of its total capacity.

The smelter has recently faced instability and challenges related to the production of rodded anodes, which are necessary to convey electricity into the smelting pots.

“Our teams are focused on safely taking the production offline and working to restore stability across the facility,” said Bill Oplinger, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. “Completing this task in a controlled fashion is our priority as we work to improve operations.”

Portland Aluminium is an unincorporated joint venture taking in Alcoa of Australia Limited (55 percent), CITIC Nominees Pty Ltd (22.5 percent), and Marubeni Aluminium Australia Pty Ltd (22.5 percent). Alcoa of Australia Limited is owned by Alcoa Corporation (60 percent) and Alumina Limited (40 percent).