Dusseldorf/Mumbai, Sept 17: Hindalco Industries Ltd., through its subsidiary Utkal Alumina International Limited, has partnered with Metalshub, a strategic partner of the London Metal Exchange (LME), to introduce a first-of-its-kind digital tendering process for the sale of metallurgical-grade alumina.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of a growing need for greater transparency in alumina price discovery. Of the 55-60 million tonnes of third-party alumina shipments traded globally each year, only around 10% is sold through the spot market.
Despite representing a relatively small share of overall trade, spot transactions play an important role in shaping benchmark prices that influence a much larger volume of alumina sales, including long-term contracts.
Unlike aluminium, which has an established exchange-based pricing mechanism, alumina pricing relies significantly on privately published indices based on voluntarily reported transactions, which may not capture the full breadth and quality of market information available to participants.
By taking a significant step towards structured digital tendering, Hindalco aims to address this need by enabling competitive bidding for spot cargoes, supporting broader market participation, greater transparency and more robust, market-driven price discovery.
Through its collaboration with Metalshub, Hindalco will introduce a structured digital bidding mechanism, enabling competitive electronic bidding within defined tender windows.
By taking an early step towards digital tendering, the company aims to support greater transparency, broader market participation, and robust price discovery.
Currently, Hindalco markets its alumina using a mixture of long-term contracts and spot selling where commercial arrangements are made for spot sales via a standard RFQ process.
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Digital tenders will be used to replace the existing sales processes at Hindalco.
The Metalshub platform will enable participants to take part in secure digital tenders and has been vetted from an information security and data governance perspective to support compliance throughout the transaction lifecycle.
Hindalco’s first digital tender is expected to take place between October and December 2026. The exact date, quantity and tender specifications will be communicated to registered participants sufficiently in advance.
About Hindalco Industries Limited
Hindalco Industries Limited is the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group. A $31 billion metals powerhouse, Hindalco is the world’s largest aluminium company by revenues, the world’s second largest Copper rods manufacturer (outside China), and a world-leading Specialty Alumina player.
About Metalshub
Metalshub is a leading digital trading platform designed to support efficient, secure and transparent transactions across industrial metals markets.
By leveraging advanced technology and market expertise, Metalshub provides digital solutions for buyers and sellers to connect, negotiate, and close transactions. (BVI)
