Rio Tinto lifts force majeure on alumina exports from Gladstone: sources

Diversified miner Rio Tinto has lifted the force majeure on alumina exports from its Gladstone operations in Australia, market sources told S&P Global Commodity Insights on Nov. 22.

Gas supplies to the Gladstone operations were disrupted by a fire incident March 5. Rio Tinto confirmed May 21 that a force majeure had been declared on alumina exports from the operation for third-party contracts.

"... We received notice that [the] FM has been lifted [and] operations are close to normal," an Australia-based trader said. At least four other market sources corroborated the receipt of the notice.

Responding to queries from Commodity Insights, Rio Tinto neither confirmed nor denied that the force majeure has been lifted but referred to its third-quarter results, reiterating that its Gladstone operations will return to normal levels by the end of 2024.

In the Q3 report released Oct. 18, Rio Tinto said that gas supplies were meeting about 95% of requirements, while alumina production for the quarter was 7% lower year over year at 1.77 million mt, due to "the breakage of the third-party operated Queensland Gas Pipeline in March."

"Basically, it doesn't matter whether the force majeure is lifted or not. It is just a positive signal to their downstream customers. Their Q3 report already said that they have recovered 95%," a trader said.

Platts, part Commodity Insights, assessed the benchmark Australian alumina at $785/mt FOB Australia on Nov. 21, unchanged from the previous assessment.