The decline in South America’s alumina production for two months in a quarter led to a downfall in the total Q3 output. In July and September, South America’s alumina production decreased by 5.36 per cent and 3.83 per cent, respectively, resulting in a Q3 fall of 3.49 per cent from the previous quarter, found the International Aluminium Institute survey.
Image Source: Norsk Hydro on LinkedIn
In both July and September, South America’s alumina production stood at 1 million tonnes, amounting to 989,000 tonnes and 979,000 tonnes. Only in August did the production volume reach above 1 million tonnes for an intermittent period but edged a year-on-year decline of 1.45 per cent from 1.033 million tonnes.
In total, South America’s alumina production through the third quarter of 2024 amounted to 2.986 million tonnes as against 3.49 million tonnes in Q2 and 3.039 million tonnes in Q3 2023. Thus, according to the data, South America’s alumina production in Q3 recorded an annual fall of 1.78 per cent from 3.04 million tonnes.
The drastic fall in South America’s alumina production in Q3 2024 could be attributed to lesser output in Hydro Alunorte refinery, the biggest alumina producer in South America as well as in the world (outside China) with an annual production capacity of 6.3 million tonnes. In Q3 2024, Hydro’s alumina production stood at 1.463 million tonnes, down by 1.94 per cent Q-o-Q from 1.492 million tonnes and 3.88 per cent less Y-o-Y than 1.522 million tonnes. This decline could be due to higher operation costs. However, by 2025, the refinery aims to accomplish fuel switch & electrical boilers to operate at lower costs and reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2025.
Image Source: Hydro
However, despite the decline in Q3 output, South America’s total alumina production in the first nine months of 2024 stood steady, reflecting a Y-o-Y increase of 1.95 per cent. From 8.915 million tonnes of production from January to September 2023, South America’s alumina production increased to 9.089 million tonnes this year.
In September 2024, North America’s alumina production also demonstrated a monthly fall from 179,000 tonnes to 136,000 tonnes, reflecting a 24 per cent decline. Even on a Y-o-Y calculation, the output decreased by 16.99 per cent from 153,000 tonnes. In Q3, the total production was 505,000 tonnes, down by 9.66 per cent from 559,000 tonnes in Q2 and 5.61 per cent less than 535,000 tonnes in Q3 2023.
From January to September 2024, North America produced 1.622 million tonnes of alumina, down by 10.04 per cent from 1.803 million tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous year.
