THE ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY'S HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA

The aluminium industry had a small and difficult beginning in Australia, but over time has become a large, valuable and expanding industry.
The industry began in 1914 with the die casting of aluminium products on a small scale, using imported aluminium. Aluminium conductors were first made in Australia in 1922 but it was not until the 1930s that major expansion of the industry occurred.
In 1936 the Australian Aluminium Company was established at Granville in Sydney, with its production limited to military requirements.

In April 1941, the Commonwealth Government decided that Australia should be independent of overseas supplies of aluminium and resolved that a smelter be established.
Construction of Australia's first aluminium smelter began in 1948 at Bell Bay in Tasmania and the first ingot was smelted in September 1955. In its first full year of operation, output totalled 9,000 tonnes.
Initially all bauxite used by the plant was imported, mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia. The discovery during the 1950s of massive deposits of bauxite in Australia attracted worldwide interest to the aluminium industry in Australia.

This interest was sparked again in the 1970s. High prices for oil used to generate electric power elsewhere in the world caused aluminium producers to look for cheaper and reliable sources of power. Australia's coal-fired electricity generation systems were a major inducement for large scale aluminium producers to establish in Australia.

Contributing to Australia

The Australian aluminium industry is an integrated industry with bauxite mining, smelting, casting and semi-fabrication facilities located across Australia. The industry directly employs over 16,000 people, mainly in regional areas.
In 2000-2001 the industry generated more than $9 billion in export earnings and was, as a whole, Australia's fifth largest export industry, behind coal.
Australia has more than 30% of the world’s bauxite reserves, is the world’s largest producer of Alumina, the world's fifth largest aluminium producer, and the world’s third largest aluminium exporter behind Canada and the USA.
The Australian aluminium industry is very efficient by international standards and its smelters are among the lowest cost smelters in the world.
If you would like to know more information about the Australian Aluminium industry, please refer to the Australian Aluminium Council's website by clicking here.