Since World War II aluminum production and consumption have risen at a phenomenal rate thanks largely to rapid increases in demand and widespread discoveries of bauxite sources. The growth of the bauxite–aluminum industry has been accompanied by geographical diversification and an increasingly centrifugal pattern of location. As with other minerals, like copper and iron ore, the role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the industry has been increasingly visible in recent years.

The growth and spread of SOEs within the bauxite-aluminum industry is likely to have a sizable impact on an industry that traditionally has been dominated by a small number of vertically integrated private multinational firms. It is not at all easy, however, to determine a priori what the nature of this impact will be. Will the growing share of mining and production undertaken by SOEs undermine the vertically integrated nature of the industry, thus allowing the emergence of a free market in bauxite? Will SOEs imply the demise of multinational-corporation (MNC) control in the industry? What kind of new integrative mechanisms will arise as SOEs begin their search for stability in an imperfect market? Will the increasing role of third-world governments in bauxite mining put Western imports of ore in jeopardy? Last but not least, what do SOEs imply for the existing patterns of trade in bauxite, alumina, and aluminum?

There has been little systematic research on the implications of SOEs for the world economy, a factor that may account for the rampant speculation that one usually encounters as a response to the preceding questions. Depending on the conditions of different industries, of course, the role SOEs will play in affecting global politics and trade will vary.