Norsk Hydro slashes Alunorte output by half amid natural gas supply disruption

Norwegian industrial giant Norsk Hydro announced on Tuesday that it has curtailed production at its Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil to just 50% of its total capacity, following a reduction in natural gas deliveries. The supply constraint, disclosed by the company's gas provider CELBA, has prompted Hydro to activate emergency protocols to limit operational fallout at the Para state facility. The output cut has rippled through global markets, pushing aluminium prices to their highest level in seven weeks. Alunorte, the world's largest alumina refinery, boasts an annual production capacity of 6.3 million metric tons---a critical figure given that it takes roughly two tons of this bauxite-derived material to produce a single ton of primary aluminium metal.