The Australian Industry
The Australian aluminum industry has been operating in Australia for over 50 years, and throughout that time has been a significant contributor to the Australian economy. The industry currently consists of:
In 2004 Australia was the largest producer of bauxite (59 Mt) and the largest producer (17.2 Mt) and exporter of alumina in the world. Australia was the world's fifth largest producer of primary aluminium metal (1.9 Mt) in 2004, our highest recorded level. As can be seen in the accompanying map most Australian aluminium operations are located in regional areas, thus providing substantial economic benefits to these areas and to the economy in general. In 2004, employment in the upstream sectors (bauxite,alumina,aluminium) of the aluminium industry was 12,000 direct employees and 4,300 contractors. Aluminium use in Australia is mainly in building and construction, transport and packaging applications, and is estimated to be around 450,000 t in 2003. The estimated capital replacement cost of Australian production capacity is $20 billion for alumina (18 Mt capacity) and $10 billion for aluminium (2.0 Mt capacity). |  |
