Smelter grade alumina prices are set to become more transparent under a series of new price indices, including Metal Bulletin’s Alumina Index, as panellists discussed at the 17th Bauxite & Alumina seminar in Miami last month.
MB’s index is one of several new alumina indices launched as an alternative to the traditional London Metal Exchange alumina methodology, which is linked to the LME’s aluminium prices.
In an effort to more clearly reflect the physical alumina market, the index is based on reported transactions from a variety of alumina sources - including smelters, traders, consumers and brokers.
MB’s index is a tonnage-weighted calculation of actual transactions and includes mechanisms to remove the influence of price misreporting from interested parties. Since its launch on 10 December 2010, at $368.06/tonne, index prices have increased by an average of $1/day, MB’s non-ferrous editor, Alex Harrison, revealed...