The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the feasiblity of alumina production in Ghana to replace imported alumina for the production of aluminum. It spells out the conditions which led to the existing bauxite-alumina-aluminum trade in the country. The structure of the economy of Ghana is examined to show the contributions of the important sectors to the total income of the country, and its dependence on a few export commodities for revenue. The plan to build a dam for the generation of hydroelectric power was linked to the establishment of an integrated aluminum industry based on the exploitation of domestic bauxite reserves. As the country could not finance the project alone, foreign assistance was sought. VALCO, a subsidiary of Kaiser and Reynolds, was formed to undertake the project. The agreement reached with VALCO was that a smelter would be built to use imported alumina for ten years, during which time a refinery would be built to feed the smelter from domestic sources. However, after ten years this could not be achieved, and the smelter continues to use imported alumina. A model of the world aluminum economy is used for analyzing the sensitivity of price to production and consumption expansion. The results show that industry demand is sensitive to the level of industrial activities in the developed countries, and less sensitive to the own price and cross price variables of aluminum in both the short and long run. On the other hand, supply is inelastic to the own price and the rate of capacity utilization in the short run, but elastic to both variables in the long run. An appraisal of opening a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery at Kibi is undertaken. The results show the levels of bauxite and alumina prices and the costs of construction at which the project is feasible. The shadow values and weights used are permittd to vary with changes in the economy's foreign trade and the balance of payments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/185546 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Agbolosoo, Emmanuel Kwami. |
| Contributors | Rieber, Michael, Rieber, Michael, Newcomb, Richard T., Harris, Deverle P., Reynolds, Stanley |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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