Sorocaba aluminium plant — Brazil

Sorocaba aluminium plant is an aluminium smelter in Brazil. Its listed capacity is 480,000 t of alumina/aluminum. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment. It is operated by Companhia Brasileira De Alumínio SA. By capacity it ranks #3 among 6 aluminium smelters in Brazil. It emits about 1,078,723 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 0.77% of the CO₂e from the 130 facilities in Brazil that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 8% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3672955.

In context: how this facility compares

At 480,000 t of alumina/aluminum, Sorocaba aluminium plant is around the median aluminium smelter in Brazil (480,000 t of alumina/aluminum). Subsector: aluminum. As aluminium smelter, it requires high process heat (typically 600–900°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 1,078,723 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest aluminium smelters in Brazil

Listed capacity (t of alumina/aluminum), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Companhia Brasileira De Alumínio SA.

Local climate

Sorocaba aluminium plant sits in a humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa), at 23.5°S in the southern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1318 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.01× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #3 largest of 6 aluminium smelters in Brazil by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Santa Helena Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 704,648 t CO₂
• Salto de Pirapora Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 1,792,741 t CO₂
• Gerdau São Paulo Araçariguama steel plant · Steel Plant · 199,599 t CO₂
• ArcelorMittal Piracicaba steel plant · Steel Plant · 612,471 t CO₂
• Petrobras REPLAN Paulinia Refinery · Refinery · 5,906,505 t CO₂
• Braskem ABC Petrochemical Complex, Santo Andre,Sao Paulo · Petrochemical · 991,618 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates -23.50035, -47.45829. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions