Nevertheless, an upbeat assess¬¬ment on the potential for price improvement by chief executive Peter Wasow was the catalyst for shares to trade 6c or 4.1 per cent higher at $1.525.

Alumina’s net loss after tax was $US47.4 million ($43.9m) compared with the near break-even situation in the previous corresponding period and preceding 2013 December half.

Total accounting costs for the closure of Point Henry, owned 60:40 by Alcoa and Alumina, was $US250m.

Actual cash costs of the closure, due to the ageing smelter not coping with the weak aluminium prices and the strong dollar, was $US120m (Alumina’s share was $US48m).

There could be some offset if the partnership is able to find a buyer for the Anglesea power ¬station that serviced Point Henry. On that front, Mr Wasow said: “We do have interest in it. We do have a number of buyers going over the data.’’

The June half was a tough one for alumina (an intermediate aluminium product). Prices touched two-year lows of $US307 a tonne in the period. Prices have recovered to $US318 a tonne, a still depressed price that reflects an overhang in global capacity.

But Mr Wasow highlighted the new dynamic of Indonesia’s export ban on unprocessed bauxite, a precursor to alumina. It could have particular long-run issues for China, which now produces 50 per cent of the world’s alumina.

China is 67 per cent self-¬sufficient in bauxite, giving it a high level of protection from the ban. But China’s bauxite is low-quality and the Indonesian ban is forcing it to increase depletion of its domestic reserve.

Mr Wasow said a “tipping point” was on the horizon, one where it became cheaper for the Chinese to import alumina, potentially increasing prices.