Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for coming. Some very familiar-looking faces in the crowd here, which is nice to see because AGMs have been very difficult for the last couple of years, and so very nice to see a lot of you back here, so thank you. My name is John Bevan. I'm a Non-Executive Director of Alumina Limited. Unfortunately, Peter Day, the company Chair, has COVID, and he's unable to attend today's meeting. I know that Peter's actually very disappointed at being unable to attend, and I understand he's listening in to us today to make sure I don't make any mistakes here. I will be acting as the Chair of Alumina Limited for today's annual general meeting of the company. This is the twentieth AGM of the company since it was de-merged from Western Mining in 2002. I know some of you may well have been holding your shares ever since that time. Before we start, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in which we stand, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, and pay respect to their elders, past, present, and emerging. I also pay my respects to the Aboriginal elders of other communities who may be present. I will briefly discuss some of the housekeeping matters before moving on to the business of the meeting. In the unlikely event evacuation of the auditorium is required, Mr. Joe D'Angelo, who is in charge of security for the meeting, will give directions and the meeting will be adjourned. We should follow Mr. D'Angelo's directions for an orderly evacuation of the auditorium to a predetermined evacuation point. The emergency assembly area is outside the National Gallery of Victoria, unless otherwise broadcast over the public address system. Now, I welcome shareholders who have joined the meeting physically. The opportunity to ask questions in writing online via the virtual platform provided by Computershare and the webcast facility have been made available to shareholders, so a little bit of change. Before formally beginning the meeting, I'd like to introduce my fellow directors. On my far left is Shirley In't Veld, a non-executive director and chair of the Compensation Committee. Next to Shirley is Deborah O'Toole, a non-executive director and chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. Next to Deb is Michael Ferraro, our Chief Executive Officer. On my immediate left is Steven Foster, Alumina's General Counsel and Company Secretary. Mr. Chen Zeng, a Non-Executive Director who is currently located in Hong Kong and is joining us by phone. Chen, can you please confirm you can hear us? Yes, yes, John, very clearly. Good afternoon, everyone. Good. Chen is standing for election today, and I will ask Chen to address the meeting regarding his election. The company's interim Chief Financial Officer, Galina Kraeva, and Group Executive Strategy and Business Development, Andrew Wood, are seated to my left in the front row. The company's auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, is represented by Mr. John O'Donoghue, who is also present. Mr. O'Donoghue is available to answer any questions regarding the conduct of the audit or the content or the preparation of the audit report. A quorum of members is present, and I now declare the meeting open. The notice of meeting has been circulated, and I'll take it as read. As previously notified to the ASX, all resolutions today will be decided on a poll based on proxies that were submitted before the meeting. The proxies received at today's meeting are held by the company secretary. We have received proxies representing 2.1 billion shares or 74% of the company's issued capital. Votes cast in person today will of course be tallied with proxies to arrive at a final outcome to be advised to the ASX. The first item on the agenda of the meeting is to receive and consider the financial statements. No resolution or vote is required on the financial statements. I will deal with this item first. I will then ask Michael Ferraro, our Chief Executive Officer, to address shareholders. I will open the meeting to questions before dealing with each of the agenda items. Now let's turn our attention to 2021 year. I should note that all references to currency in mine and Michael's presentation are in U.S. dollars. The company reported a net profit of $188 million in 2021. This was a good result given the market volatility during the year. The AWAC business continues to maintain its low-cost position, and Michael will discuss the company's results further in his presentation. In terms of dividends, 2021 was a year of continued solid returns to shareholders. The total full year, fully franked dividend was $0.062 per share. Your company has now provided an average dividend yield to shareholders of 7.3% over the past five years, and that's before the benefit of the franking credit. The company has received net dividends from AWAC of $141 million year to date, including $25.7 million in May 2022. Our net debt level at the end of 2021 was just $56 million. We currently have a net cash position consistent with the low and prudent debt levels we have maintained over recent years. Now I'd like to after 20 years, I think, it's appropriate that I now like to conduct a fresh and sort of contemporary analysis of our company, Alumina Limited, and its core business, the AWAC joint venture. I will outline some improvement themes which have emerged over recent years, but until now have gone relatively unacknowledged. I'm doing this in the context of a significantly sharper global focus on commodities. The impact of the pandemic, the emergence of inflation, the uncertainties of suddenly overwhelming a post-Ukraine war global order, and the realization everywhere that decarbonization is both imminent and daunting, all these factors have thrown the spotlight on the demand, availability, and cost of commodities. The world and investment markets are no longer taking commodities for granted, and this is something we have not seen for many years. It's important right now to place a spotlight on the fundamentals of our business and to ensure they are understood. Investment markets are beginning to price and value commodities in the light of these new uncertainties. It follows that first-in-class commodity producing businesses like ours need to acknowledge the irreplaceable nature of our assets. Alumina Limited is a globally unique, listed, pure-play alumina company with significant exposure to index-based alumina pricing. There is nothing like this company anywhere in the global aluminum production chain. We have no debt to speak of. We have a focused interest in alumina production, relatively undiluted by smelting and completely undiluted by interest in other commodities. For many years, our industry was challenged by the growth of Chinese production. This has now paused, if not plateaued, and alumina refining worldwide is expected to change in response to decarbonization. In this new world, sunk capital and established operations are highly valuable. Now I turn to the markets. The global alumina market is highly attractive, and over recent years, index pricing has made it even more attractive because this accurately and quickly reflects the global supply and demand fundamentals. Foremost among the fundamentals are the special characteristics of alumina. In that, unlike aluminum, it can't be stored and must be sold and consumed relatively quickly. Otherwise, it deteriorates. In addition, the customers that consume alumina are smelters, which cannot flex their production volumes easily. You cannot turn aluminum pot lines on and off, except at huge expense. As a result, AWAC's lowest cost quartile competitiveness is highly leveraged to the upside and defensive against the downside. Let me explain. Many hardened resource sector observers will translate AWAC's innate competitiveness into the classical mining language of resilience through the cycle. The language of resilience is correct, but frankly insufficient. AWAC is more than just resilient through the cycle. When alumina markets turn and prices rise, and they do so frequently, AWAC margins expand significantly, resulting in extraordinary cash flows. Being relatively inelastic, we're seeing that alumina markets quickly price to global disruptions, and Michael will talk about that more in his speech. We are resilient and profitable also when the market is calm. We are perfectly positioned to receive the benefits of volatility caused by more frequent, consistent periods of market disruption. The net result of these factors is that Alumina Limited is highly attractive investment for shareholders, which consistently pays market-leading dividends. This reflects the strong cash generation of the AWAC assets, the impact of our markets, together with favorable joint venture arrangement that legislates the speedy flow of cash directly to AWAC joint venture partners. I referred earlier that in a world of heightened focus on commodities, it is incumbent on us to acknowledge the irreplaceable nature of our assets in the light of the enviable positions we have in global markets. Let me do so now. AWAC's global leadership stems from two dimensions of quality that have underpinned decades of top performance. First, as I've detailed, AWAC's alumina assets are on average in the lowest quartile of the cost curve, allowing it to generate profits through the cycle. Secondly, AWAC's alumina assets are the lowest quartile of emissions intensity of all the major producers. The global alumina market provides attractive returns for low-cost producers such as AWAC. As Michael will further explain, it is now commonplace for the global alumina market to turbocharge its returns of its most competitive suppliers, such as AWAC. At the root of it all is AWAC's energy position in Western Australia, a foundation of cost and emissions competitiveness, and a highly strategic long-term gas resource in terms of changing energy markets. AWAC's Australian refineries combine this energy position with proximity to long-term bauxite resources, and there is hardly anything like this combination in the industry. West Australia's natural gas currently contributes to AWAC having one of the lowest carbon emission averages in the industry. Gas could continue to serve AWAC's Darling Ranges refineries for many years. AWAC is concurrently looking at ways to transition to renewable energy, thus reducing further its carbon footprint. Your directors and management continue to have regular conversations with stakeholders about the importance of climate change, among other issues. In October last year, Alumina Limited revised its climate change position statement to announce that it will strive for AWAC to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions to net zero by 2050. AWAC's decarbonization strategy for its refineries revolve around two potential technologies. The first is mechanical vapor recompression, or MVR, and the second is electric calcination. MVR would see a series of renewable powered compressors retrofitted to the refinery, using renewable energy to recompress waste water vapor into steam, which is then recirculated to the beginning of the digestion process. Electric calcination would utilize renewable energy to generate 1,000 degrees Celsius required to dry alumina hydrate. The focus of this decade will be investing in R&D for those technologies and to seek to prove that they are operationally viable as well as commercial. A key catalyst for these projects will be renewable energy inputs, and we remain conscious that any energy solution needs to be reliable, affordable, and sustainable. We all know that Australia has world-leading solar and wind generation values. Sufficient renewable energy inputs required for these technologies, such as MVR and electric calcination, have not yet been built where our assets are located. We are not wedded to any particular type of clean energy, but large electricity consumers such as AWAC's Portland Smelter may also be able to play a role in grid stability through demand response. Portland has significantly reduced its carbon footprint over the past decade. With the help of more green electricity generated in Victoria, its energy profile may be such that it consumes 40%-50% of renewable electricity by 2030. Aluminum, of course, can be part of a sustainable virtuous circle, whereby aluminum can be used in components of solar panels, wind farms, and transmission, all of which facilitate the transition to a lower emissions energy. In conclusion, I believe the company is well-positioned as commodity and energy markets continue to change. Your board and management are committed to working with our Alcoa so that AWAC continues to provide long-term value to its shareholders. With those remarks, I'll pass over to Michael. Thank you. Thank you, John. 2021 was a year of contrasting halves, which demonstrated the resilience of our joint venture in moderate markets and how AWAC takes full advantage of opportunities once markets turn more positive. Overall, the business operated well in the face of continuing operational, shipping, and supply chain disruptions. Our net profit of $188 million was a substantial 28% increase over the previous year. This reflected AWAC's greatly improved financial performance off the back of higher alumina prices and metal prices. The average alumina price for 2021 increased by 21% to $329 per ton compared to 2020. AWAC's alumina production of 12.6 million tons in 2021 was a decline of 200,000 tons on the prior year. The Portland Smelter enjoyed the highest metal prices for a decade and achieved $73 million in EBITDA. Accordingly, a decision was made to restart Portland's remaining idled capacity. Last year, alumina prices rose sharply in the fourth quarter. This followed alumina production disruptions globally in the second half. In addition, alumina prices were supported by higher energy and caustic costs. These market fundamentals caused a price spike in the API to a high of $484 per ton. The fourth quarter EBITDA margin for AWAC in 2021 was $165 per ton. An increase from the average of $70 per ton for the previous three quarters. New disruptions to the alumina market have emerged in 2022. COVID outbreaks in China have created logistical challenges. Chinese alumina production was also constrained due to the Winter Olympics and environmental policies. With the closure of a Ukraine refinery upon the outbreak of war, alumina prices jumped to $533 per ton in March. Alumina prices have since fallen, impacted by sanctions imposed on Rusal exporting Australian alumina to Russia. This is now causing a short-term oversupply in the Pacific. Now we've seen several different market disruptions over the past five years. It is worth discussing this in more detail. The alumina market reflects finely balanced fundamentals, where supply and demand changes are efficiently reflected in spot prices. As John has remarked, the alumina market can be stable and relatively balanced, but at other times, it is exposed to substantial disruptions and imbalances resulting in price volatility, more frequently on the upside. The global alumina market is not well understood. The Alumina Price Index or API is the main pricing method for alumina. API is unique. It is an index price set by third-party observers. The API isn't traded on the London Metal Exchange or publicly reported. There's no liquid futures market like there are for other commodities. Because of this, prices don't get a lot of coverage. This means it is not closely observed by the market, even though Australia is home to three of the world's largest alumina producers: our joint venture, South32, and Rio Tinto. In fact, alumina and bauxite exports from Australia represent our eighth-largest export by value. The alumina supply-demand balance and the near-term outlook can quickly tighten and result in shortages and price spikes, even in the context of an expected surplus for a year. Recent market outcomes have highlighted that alumina pricing is unpredictable and prone to violent swings when there is disruption and uncertainty. The general learning from the last 4-5 years is that these circumstances are increasingly occurring and have quite diverse causes. Some disruptions have operational causes. For instance, the world's largest refinery, Alunorte, curtailed 50% of production in 2018 and 2019 following extreme rainfall and environmental issues. We also saw the impact of in 2021 of operational disruptions at our Alumar refinery. A fire closed the Jamalco refinery in Jamaica, and hurricanes affected the Gramercy refinery in the US. COVID has also had impact on alumina production. Disruptions can also occur as a result of geopolitical causes, such as US economic sanctions on Rusal in 2018. We are now seeing the impacts of global conflict with the recent closure of the Mykolaiv refinery in Ukraine. The third cause of disruptions has been global energy and economic policies, such as China curtailing production and energy use in 2017 to manage regional air pollution and energy efficiency. China acted again in 2021 to limit energy use and carbon emissions, which is expected to increasingly limit the rate of growth of new refining capacity. Quite clearly, there have been frequent disruptive events from a variety of sources with periods of exceptional prices over the last five years. It's tempting to see these events as windfalls and therefore not give them due weight. Indeed, that's the implicit view of many investment observers, but that underlies the fact that such events are emerging more frequently. I believe these outcomes are to be expected in a broadly balanced market rather than being viewed as extraordinary windfalls. In each of these disruptive phases, AWAC has realized very positive earnings reflected in higher dividends to shareholders. Firstly, this is due to AWAC's relatively low position on the global cost curve. This is normally seen as a source of AWAC's resilience. However, it's also the fact that AWAC's margins and cash flows are relatively turbocharged when markets are disrupted. Secondly, AWAC's output is highly exposed to API pricing, unlike some years ago, when alumina was sold at a price linked to the London Metal Exchange. Thirdly, Alumina Limited has virtually no debt. We've seen energy impacting disruptions, Europe and China, in the early days of the transition from carbon-based energy. These forces have impacted costs and supply of alumina and aluminum and the potential for future new supply. With long-term gas resources in WA, AWAC is well-placed with energy supply for at least the rest of the decade while cleaner energy solutions are investigated. We believe global energy transition, decarbonization, and a plateauing in China's production volumes are positive for both the alumina and the aluminum industry. These drivers reinforce the value of already established alumina assets which are energy efficient, such as AWAC. Also, decarbonization is driving long-term growth in aluminum metal consumption. There are limited new refinery expansions committed outside China to meet expected growth in aluminum demand. It's likely to take lengthy periods to bring to market new capacity outside of India and China, which may lead to alumina supply deficits. As we are seeing in Europe, disruptions to oil and gas supplies are causing energy shortages and significantly higher prices. Why? Because there is not enough sustainable clean energy to meet the deficit. With the new Australian government in place, we may well see a faster transition to renewable energy. I do support the move, the faster, the better. Solar and wind alone will not be enough. Even now in Australia, during peak consumption periods, the electricity price spikes. As the chart on the screen shows, fossil-fired electricity currently represents over 70% of the energy electricity mix. It will be very difficult without disruption to replace coal-fired power with wind and solar or other technologies. Firm power, that is power that is available 24/7, is a particular problem with renewables. It's not as simple as increasing solar and wind generation. As heavy industry starts to transition off gas, there will be a very significant increase in demand for electricity. Solar and wind-generated electricity needs to be supported by significant storage capabilities and other technologies. It also needs a more stable and upgraded transmission grid. Hydrogen is a long-term solution, probably at least a decade away. This means that all options need to be assessed to ensure that the transition to clean energy is effective and successful without major disruptions. In addition to technologies being assessed now, Australia should also engage in a debate on nuclear energy and assess it as part of a potential range of solutions, recognizing, as I said, that the demand for electricity will grow exponentially. Before closing, I would like to turn to our outlook. The outlook for Alumina remains attractive. Alumina spot prices in 2022 has so far averaged $403 per ton. Rusal refinery in Ukraine, which has an annual production rate of 1.8 million tons, is out of action and is not likely to return to production quickly. Your company is fortunate to be part of the aluminum supply chain, which will be supported by higher demand as aluminum plays a key role in global decarbonization efforts. Disruptive events globally are also supporting a tight to balanced market, which will quickly respond in price to any further supply disruptions. Thank you for listening and being here today. Thank you, Michael. We now move to the formal part of the meeting. Before opening up the discussion period for today's items of business, I want to mention quickly a few procedural matters. All of the relevant information for today's business is already set out in the notice of meeting which shareholders have had for some weeks. I take the notice of meeting as read. Voting on relevant items of business will be by way of a poll without the relevant matter first being voted on by a show of hands. As shareholders are aware, no formal vote is required on item number one. The poll on the remaining items two to four will be conducted at the end of the meeting. The proxy position on each relevant item will be displayed after the specific discussion on that item. To facilitate discussion and subsequent voting by shareholders, I will formally put to the meeting each item of business in the notice of the meeting, in the terms set out in the notice. I will now also formally open the poll for voting on each of the relevant items of business. With the poll open, if you need to leave early, it is possible to lodge your vote with Computershare. A voting box overseen by Computershare personnel is located on the table near the exit door. There'll also be plenty of time for those of you not leaving early after discussion of the items of business to complete and to lodge your vote. While all of the items are now formally before the meeting, I propose to step through a specific discussion on each item in turn. The opportunity to ask questions during the course of the meeting has been made available to shareholders. A number of written questions have been received prior to the meeting, and responses to those questions have been placed on the company's website. I will start by responding to questions from the floor of the meeting, then proceed to questions received today, initially in writing, and then verbally from shareholders utilizing the webcast facility. We will allow time for follow-up questions to be submitted. Colin Hendry, our assistant company secretary, is here with me and will read out the name of the shareholder and their written questions. Good afternoon, Colin. Thanks, John. If you wish to participate in the discussion on the items of business, I recommend you forward a question now as outlined, or call through on the webcast facility. If you have submitted a question today but it is not addressed at the meeting, for example, because of a technology issue, then we will endeavor to respond after today's meeting. Now let's turn our attention to item number one, which is to receive and consider the financial report and the reports of the directors and the auditor for the 2021 financial year. If you wish to participate in the discussion on this item, please move to the microphone in one of the aisles and show your voting paper to the attendant. They will take your name and introduce you to the meeting. As this is a meeting of shareholders, only those shareholders or their representatives holding yellow or blue admittance cards may ask questions or make comments. I will firstly take questions from the floor of the meeting. Is there any questions from the room? On item number one? Okay. For those wishing to ask a question on the phone, please press star one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. Colin, are there any questions on this item in writing from the webcast facility? No questions, Mr. Chairman. Operator, are there any questions by telephone? There are no phone questions at this time. Well, that was easy. There appears to be no further questions or comments on this item, and there is no vote undertaken on item number 1. Okay, now let's focus on item number 2, which is the adoption of the remuneration report. This item involves a non-binding resolution to adopt the company's remuneration report. Each director recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the motion on this item. Does anyone from the floor wish to discuss this motion? Colin, are there any questions on this item in writing from the webcast facility? No questions, Mr. Chairman. Operator, are there any questions by telephone? There are no phone questions at this time. There appears to be no further questions, so that's easy. Before moving on to the meeting, the screen shows the details of the proxies validly lodged with the company in relation to this item. We'll now focus our discussion on the next item of the agenda. Agenda number three relates to the proposed re-election of Chen Zeng as a director of the company. I'd like to confirm that the board, other than Chen Zeng, unanimously recommends to shareholders Chen's re-election. Chen is presently in New York or in Hong Kong, and has been unable to join us physically for the meeting. Chen has prepared an address to shareholders on his candidacy, and I'll now like to show that to you. Chen. Good afternoon, everyone. My sincere apologies for not being able to attend this AGM in person due to COVID-related travel restrictions. It feels like I have spent most of my last two and a half years in hotel quarantine. Time flies. During my nine years of being on the board of Alumina, I've been committed to serving the company and you as its shareholders. I believe that my expertise and insight in the mining, metal, and energy industries have benefited the company over the years. At the same time, it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I remain dedicated to the company and would like to put myself forward for re-election as a non-executive director. Over the last decade, we have seen significant changes in the global commodities market, especially in the rising demand for aluminum and other base metals using energy efficiency and carbon reduction applications. With sustainability efforts underway around the world and across industries, our smelter customers are continually looking for a reliable supply of quality alumina, and we should expect that demand will only intensify in today's turbulent global environment. At the same time, our customers are increasingly prioritizing green production and low carbon emission in their producer selection. We have seen heightened interest in our environmental impact as sustainability scorecards. With Alumina's long life, low cost of bauxite resources, the company is recognized as an industry leader in scale, value and reliability. We are also well-positioned to be the greener choice. While many of our competitors still rely heavily on coal. Our operations use primarily natural gas, which is much cleaner and generate significantly less carbon dioxide, giving us a clear advantages in terms of carbon emissions and other environmental concerns. We continue to invest in efforts to reduce our energy intensity, further differentiating us from the competition. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact on our operations, while global economic, political, and supply chain issues pose additional challenges to the industry. Like all producers, we are faced with rising inflation and an increasingly high cost operating environment. To defend our cost-efficient position and our competitiveness, every one of us will need to do our share. I remain fully committed to working with the board and the executive team through the challenges and opportunities ahead as we serve the company and all its stakeholders. Thank you for your kind support. That's great. Thank you, Chen. Is there any discussion from the floor on this item? Colin, are there any questions on this item in writing from the website facility? No questions, Mr. Chairman. The operator, are there any questions by telephone? There are no telephone questions. Okay. There appears to be no questions or comments on this item. Once again, the details of the proxies validly lodged in relation to this motion are displayed on the screen. Agenda item number 4. This item relates to the grant of performance rights to the company's CEO. These rights were previously approved for issue to Mr. Ferraro in January 2022 as part of his remuneration, subject to shareholder approval. The directors, other than Mr. Ferraro, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this motion. Does anyone from the floor wish to discuss this motion? Colin, are there any questions on this item in writing from the webcast facility? No, Mr. Chairman. No questions. Operator, are there any questions by telephone? There are no phone questions. Okay. There appears to be no questions on this item. Details of the proxies validly lodged in relation to this motion are displayed on the screen. Are there any further questions from the floor on any of these items of business? Colin, have you got any further questions? No, Mr. Chairman. No further questions. The operator, are there any further questions? There are no further questions. Okay. We have now dealt with all of the items of business in the notice of meeting. I will now discuss the poll on items 2 to 4 and how they'll be undertaken. Briefly, let me run through some procedural matters in relation to voting. Only persons holding a yellow admittance card are entitled to vote at this meeting. The voting paper for the poll is on the back of those yellow cards. In order to vote on a relevant motion, a voter must mark the appropriate box for or against. If you have difficulty completing your voting paper, please seek out a Computershare staff member who will assist you. I appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company's auditor, represented today by John O'Donoghue, as the scrutineer of the poll. I also appoint Wayne Hopkins of Computershare as Returning Officer for this vote. I now ask you to complete your voting papers. Poll collection boxes will be passed along each row for you to insert your completed voting paper, and there's also a voting box positioned at the exit. We'll just give you a few minutes to be able to complete your votes. Okay. Thank you, everyone. It appears everyone's voted, so I now declare the poll closed. Once the votes are counted and the Returning Officer's report is available, we'll advise the result to the ASX, and those results will constitute the resolution of today's meeting. There being no further business, I declare the meeting closed, subject to the determination of the poll results. Thank you. Please come and join us for a cup of tea. Thanks very much.
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