The recent announcements of curtailment and financial protection of three U.S. alumina refineries exposes the potential vulnerability of non-metallurgical alumina buyers to the swings in metal values. Backward integrated with the 2013 purchase of the Burnside alumina refinery, Almatis has control of its supply chain and reportedly can provide long-term stability in this time of big industry shifts. Investments in Almatis Burnside have upgraded it to a chemical-grade facility that supplies Almatis operations in the U.S. and Europe with a high-quality feedstock for producing its products and also supplying the non-metallurgical alumina chemical markets. The Burnside alumina refinery has an annual capacity of about 500,000 metric tons. Besides fulfilling internal feedstock requirements, Almatis will supply calcined alumina and hydrated alumina to fill the void resulting from the curtailments.

“Almatis has the only North American refinery operated and maintained solely for the quality needs of the specialty alumina and chemicals markets and thus completely independent from the much more volatile metallurgical-grade alumina market,” said Henning Stams, CEO. “Our production plants and those of our existing and new customers can rely on this.”

For more information, visit www.almatis.com.