South32 set a year to date production record at Brazil Alumina

South32 in its Quarterly Report March 2021, reports that net cash increased by US$242M to US$517M in the quarter as the company capitalised on our strong operating performance combined with improving commodity prices, partially offset by the continuation of its capital management program.

The aluminium division set a year to date production record at Brazil Alumina and remain on-track to achieve nameplate production at Worsley Alumina following the completion of planned maintenance.                                                                                            

WORSLEY ALUMINA (86% share)

Worsley Alumina saleable alumina production increased by 1% (or 16kt) to 2,885kt in the nine months ended March 2021. Alumina hydrate production increased by 4% (or 116kt) to a record 2,989kt in the same period, with the input circuit operating above nameplate capacity of 4.6Mtpa(100% basis).

FY21 production guidance remains unchanged at 3,965kt with the refinery expected to drawdown established hydrate stocks following the successful completion of planned calciner maintenance in the March 2021 quarter.

BRAZIL ALUMINA (36% share)

Brazil Alumina saleable production increased by 1% (or 7kt) to a record 1,049kt in the nine months ended March 2021 as the refinery continued to benefit from strong plant availability,  realising the benefits of the De-bottlenecking Phase One project.

FY21 production guidance remains unchanged at 1,370kt.

HILLSIDE ALUMINIUM (100%)

Hillside Aluminium saleable production decreased by 1% (or 3kt) to 537kt in the nine months  ended March 2021 as the smelter continued to test its maximum technical capacity, despite the impact from increased load-shedding. FY21 production guidance[note7] remains unchanged at 720kt.

The new energy supply agreement for the smelter is currently with the National Energy Regulator  of South Africa for review. The new agreement is to cover power supplied for a 10-year period with a tariff that is South African rand based, and a rate of escalation linked to the South Africa Producer Price Index.

MOZAL ALUMINIUM (47.1% share)

Mozal Aluminium saleable production decreased by 1% (or 2kt) to 199kt in the nine months ended March 2021 with the smelter continuing to perform strongly despite the impact of load-shedding and workforce restrictions related to COVID-19 in the quarter. Notwithstanding the ongoing impact of restrictions, FY21 production is expected to approach guidance of 273kt.