Development of the British Aluminium Industry

Abstract

The international aluminium industry is dominated by six vertically integrated North American and West European firms, which own most of the known bauxite resources in the world outside the centrally-planned economies, produce most of the alumina, smelt most of the metal and fabricate a large proportion of the final output of aluminium products. There are also a number of smaller producers, less fully integrated with smaller sales areas, who lack the organizational, technical and financial resources to impinge seriously on the international industry; they are sometimes themselves allied with, or partially owned by, major international enterprises.