Alcoa is back to aluminum mining, production in Brazil
U.S.-based multinational Alcoa, which has been operating in the Brazilian aluminum industry for almost six decades, is once again positioning itself in the country, with production ranging from bauxite mining to alumina and raw metal. Globally, aluminum has gained new market dynamics, with applications in the electrification of vehicles and other fields, such as electricity and recyclable packaging.The company operates three sites in the country - in Juruti (state of Pará) it extracts and processes bauxite mineral; in São Luís (Maranhão), in the Alumar consortium, it has an alumina and primary aluminum plant; the Poços de Caldas unit (Minas Gerais) is focused on the integrated production of special alumina and has an aluminum scrap recycling unit. The company also holds stakes in four hydroelectric plants."It is a 57-year history that is gaining new momentum with the changing landscape for aluminum worldwide, new applications and the use of renewable energy, which will set the tone for the industry in the future," Otávio Carvalheira, Alcoa president in Brazil, told Valor.The executive knows the company and the industry well after working for 34 years in several functions in Brazil and abroad, including China. "I spent three years in Shanghai working in the aluminum rolling field."He returned in 2008 and took the helm of the Brazilian subsidiary in 2016, when Alcoa decided to split the operations that transform metal into finished products, creating Arconic.A year and a half before, the company had decided to temporarily halt - almost seven years later - the production of aluminum in Brazil due to the lack of competitiveness in power prices. The input is the item of the greatest weight in the metallurgy of the metal. In the country, it has even exceeded 50%.Under the new conditions of aluminum demand, high prices and the use of competitively priced renewable power - in long-term contracts - the company decided this year to restart its smelter at the Alumar consortium, in which it has a 60% stake and is the operator. The partner is Australia’s South32, with 40%, which made the same decision.Together, the two companies are investing R$957 million ($186 million). Alcoa will inject R$520 million, the executive said.In 2023, Alcoa already foresees placing 268,000 tonnes of primary metal on the market, relative to its stake in Alumar [the foundry’s total capacity is 447,000 tonnes]. The metal will be mainly destined for the Brazilian demand, which...
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