LONDON, March 9, 2026, 21:04 GMT
Shipping data showed a vessel loaded with bauxite from Rio Tinto plc’s Amrun mine in Australia diverted from the Gulf and is now heading for China, drawing the miner into the same supply snarl that pushed aluminium prices to a four-year high on Monday. The Strait of Hormuz blockage is now disrupting raw material shipments too, not just metal exports.
Bauxite gets refined into alumina before ending up as aluminium. Roughly 9% of the world’s aluminium comes out of the Middle East, which has to bring in bauxite and alumina from elsewhere. Disruptions to shipping routes can squeeze supplies fast.
Ben Ayre at Kpler said the Alisios, loaded with 79,000 tons from Amrun, was last tracked east of the Philippines after veering north toward China. Rio, which finished building Amrun in 2018, claims the mine will keep its Weipa bauxite operations going for decades. The miner reported in January that Amrun had surpassed nameplate capacity following a year of record output.
Rio is moving to ramp up output in Cape York. The Kangwinan study—potentially boosting Weipa Southern by as much as 20 million tonnes a year—was first detailed last year. At the time, Pacific Operations Aluminium boss Armando Torres called it a step toward “ensuring security of supply to our Australian refineries and to our customers.” Rio Tinto
Disruption is moving quickly. Aluminium Bahrain has stopped shipments and declared force majeure—a clause allowing companies to sidestep obligations when hit by uncontrollable events. Norsk Hydro reported Qatalum in Qatar is shutting down, warning a full restart might not happen for six to twelve months.
Aluminium futures climbed to $3,544 a ton on Monday—the highest level seen since March 2022. “The Europeans are particularly concerned, as the Gulf aluminum stoppage comes just as long-term supplier Mozal is going offline this month,” said Marex analyst Ed Meir. He flagged a market that’s already feeling the pinch, with South32 moving to idle its Mozal smelter in Mozambique from mid-March. Reuters
Gulf Cooperation Council smelters are bringing in roughly 680,000 tons of alumina monthly, according to Ayre. But just 61,000 tons are currently sitting inside the Gulf—hardly a cushion if passage remains blocked.
Exactly how much Rio stands to lose financially remains uncertain. It’s not immediately clear who owns the ships that changed course, and rather than disappearing, some of those cargoes look like they’re being redirected to Asia. That shift hints at a possible shake-up in trade routes, with sales flows likely to adjust ahead of any real drop in volumes.
Rio isn’t out of the woods. The miner runs a full aluminium supply line, from bauxite at Weipa to alumina in Gladstone, plus smelters across Australia and New Zealand. It’s weighing an Amrun output boost. If Hormuz stays closed for a long stretch, the group’s ability to shift sales across that chain gets a tough stress test.
