Hydro has ramped up production at its Alunorte alumina refinery in Barcarena to make up for the shortfall from the company’s Paragominas bauxite mine, where power was just restored.
On June 20, three nearby transmission towers were overturned that knocked out power to the mine, which in turn, resulted in reduced output at the Alunorte refinery. With the towers repaired and power returned, production resumed at Paragominas, but Hydro decided to increase production at Alunorte, where production had previously been reduced to 50-70pc of full capacity to balance inventories. The company did not disclose the volumes due to the ramp-up.
The Paragominas mine supplies bauxite to Alunorte through a 244-km- pipeline.