MYSTEEL: Middle East disruptions may lift China's alumina supply

Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East since February 28 are likely to disrupt primary aluminum production there and cause additional alumina cargoes to be redirected to markets outside the region including China, according to Mysteel's recent analytical report on the commodity.

The Middle East's six major aluminum-producing countries – namely Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman – have a combined primary aluminum capacity of approximately 6.92 million tonnes/year, accounting for about 9% of global output, Mysteel learned. Given that producing one tonne of primary aluminum requires roughly 1.92