Abstract

This article studies the emergence of the international aluminium cartel during the 1930s and its subsequent dynamics. Alliance Aluminium Compagnie, the cartel formed in 1931, is often considered a model for the overall international cartel movement as it proved so effective in coping with the Great Depression. The methods employed included taking over unsold stocks which proved to be a pioneering effort to create what became known as stock buffering schemes. It was not like other schemes formed under the direct administration of the public policy makers as it was a private, financial venture and, in the end, this 'private' dimension of the cartel generated significant criticism during the 1930s. Strategic choices made by different countries along in addition to financial problems meant that the cartel was initially transformed and finally wound down.