India's Vedanta confirms Lanjigarh alumina refinery unaffected by water storage breach

India's Vedanta Aluminium confirmed that its Lanjigarh alumina refinery in Odisha state was operating after a breach at water storage facility, the company's parent Vedanta said Sept. 18.

The breach "occurred during the early hours of Sept. 15, 2024, due to unprecedented rains in the area," Vedanta said. The refinery has a production capacity of 3.5 million metric tons per year.

Market participants sought clarity on the impact on production and prices, but noted that preliminary assessment remained unclear due to insufficient verified information.

"Looks serious, can't say for sure if and how much production is affected but we expect there will be some impact alumina output while investigations are underway," a trader said.

Another trader said that if the situation at the red mud facility gets contained, immediate impact would be minimal but feasibility studies and expansion projects in Odisha region could have delays. The alumina refining stage generates bauxite residue, commonly known as red mud.

In addition to the undisrupted operations, "there is no damage to our red mud storage facility. The situation is fully under control," Vedanta said. "While no injuries or loss of livestock have been reported so far, the overflow of water has impacted agricultural areas."

In addition, holidays continued across Asia, with many market participants in the region away since the week beginning Sept. 16, and expected more details to emerge later in the week.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the benchmark daily Australian alumina up $2/mt on the session at $542/mt FOB Sept. 17. Also, Platts assessed the CIF main Asian ports spot P1020 aluminum premium at $155/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash, steady on the day while the CIF main Japanese ports spot premium for 99.7% P1020/1020A aluminum ingot at $153/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash, up $1/mt on the day.