COMMERCIAL Queensland Alumina rides out slump

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34047, 10 January 1976, Page 11

COMMERCIAL Queensland Alumina rides out slump

Zealand Press Association-Copyright) BRISBANE. Queensland Alumina, Ltd, lias passed through the world-wide depression in the aluminium industry in 1975 with a production cutback of only 6.6 per cent.

Its output of alumina — the aluminium oxide raw material for aluminium tnetal — was 1.9 m tonnes, or 80.1 per cent of the centra! Queensland plant’s act capacity.

.ne company had been hoping to produce about 2m tonnes, or roughly the amount of its nominal designed capacity. The shortfall from this figure is considerably less than might have been expected in the past year’s sharp slowdown in aluminium smelting activity. Q.A.L.'s production in 1974 rose 19.9 per cent to a record 2.1 m tonnes.

In an encouraging pointer for Comalco, Ltd, whose Weipa mines in North Queensland supply all the Q.A.L. plant’s bauxite requirements. production in 1976 is expected to be about the same as in 1975.

This would imply that Q.A.L. will again be Comalco’s dominant bauxite customer, with purchases of about 3.9 m tonnes. Comalco’s other main customers are Europe (3.7 m tonnes in

1974) and Japan (1.6 m tonnes in 1974).

Shipments to Japan are likely to come under severe pressure later this year as a result of last month’s decision to cut aluminium smelting rates to 50 per cent of capacity because of heavy metal stocks and a low level of demand.

Similarly, European smelters are operating well below capacity, and have accumulated heavy surplus stocks of metal. Apart from Comalco, which has a 13.8 per cent interest in the refinery as well as being its sole supplier of bauxite, Q.A.L.’s partners are Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Corporation of the U.S. (32.3 per cent interest), Alcan of Canada (21.4 per cent), Pechinery of France (20 per cent) and Conzinc Riotinto of Australia, Ltd (12.5 per cent). Despite its “no change”

forecast tor 1976 output, Q.A.L.’s production in the first quarter of this year will be reduced because of a decision to take down one of the plant’s three digestion units for a complete overhaul. A similar overhaul was carried out on another digestion unit last March. Production from the two remaining digestion units, together with alumina in stockpiles, is expected to be sufficient to meet the alumina requirements of the partners during the shutdown period.