The Analysis of Aluminum Market Indices for Iran and the World

In this paper, the structures of Aluminum Ore (AlO), Concentrate (AlC) and Metal (AlM) markets have been analyzed using Concentration Ratio (CR) and Herfindahl Index (HI) during 2001-05. The structure of their world imports and exports is oligopolistic. However, this structure for ALO and ALC is nearly loose and tight oligopolistic, respectively. During this period, the monopolistic power of the world importers slightly decreased but the structure remained intact. The USA played a major role in the imports of ALO and ALC whilst Brazil is known as the best exporter. Also Japan for importing and Russia for exporting of AIM possess central positions in the world market. The known aluminum resources in Iran are very limited. Therefore the most of the required raw materials are imported. The two governmental companies are the main AlM producers. The CR of the two firms is 100, and HI reached 50% and its reverse is equal 2. This shows that the total domestic production of AlM is equally divided between these two corporations. Therefore, structure of this market is state-monopolized. In the other hand the demand-side has a competitive structure.