Alcoa halts shipments from Juruti mine amid port blockage, fuelling alumina price surge

On Thursday, Alcoa announced the suspension of bauxite shipments from Brazil’s Juruti port due to a vessel stranded in the waterway. This marks the latest in a series of supply chain disruptions impacting the aluminium raw material market, contributing to record-high alumina prices and supporting elevated aluminium prices.

Image Source: Alcoa Website

Alcoa invoked force majeure at its Juruti bauxite mine on Wednesday, citing the blocked waterway as a barrier to fulfilling customer supply commitments, according to an emailed statement from an Alcoa spokesperson to Reuters. The statement did not provide an estimated timeframe for the resumption of shipments.

A trader source indicated that a vessel has been stranded near the Juruti port since late October, halting bauxite movement for nearly 10 days. The Juruti region is home to one of the world’s largest high-grade bauxite deposits, typically processed into alumina—an essential raw material for producing primary aluminium.

On Thursday, three-month benchmark aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (CMAL3) spiked to a five-month high of $2,732 per metric tonne before settling at $2,706 by 1519 GMT. Alumina prices had already surged last month following shipment disruptions in Guinea and Australia. The most active alumina contract for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) has climbed 25 per cent since early October, reaching 5,279 yuan per tonne (SAOF5).