Who are Guinea Alumina’s major alumina-supply competitors?
The major developments in the aluminium industry over the last couple of years have been (i) the consolidation of industry participants through acquisitions and mergers and (ii) the rise of alumina production in China. The aluminium industry has been consolidating in recent years and is now highly concentrated due to the high costs of entry. In 2007, Russian Aluminium Company, SUAL Group and Glencore merged their aluminium and alumina businesses into United Company RUSAL (“UCR”). Rio Tinto Limited acquired Alcan Inc. (together “Rio Tinto Alcan”) and merged it with their own assets which included Comalco Limited. According to published figures, Alcoa Inc. (“Alcoa”), Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (“Chalco”), Rio Tinto Alcan, UCR and BHP Billiton accounted for or controlled close to 60% of the almost 78 million metric tons of alumina that was produced world-wide in 2008. The market for smelter grade alumina is primarily controlled by integrated aluminium companies. In 2008, world