21st CRU World Aluminium Conference 2016: Experts throw light on the changing face of China aluminium

The 21st CRU World Aluminium Conference 2016 took place between May 9-11 in Shanghai, China. As the setting was the Middle Kingdom, many of the speakers’ presentations were oriented to the subject.

CRU’s Michael Insulán delivered a presentation on the changing face of aluminium and bauxite supply both in China and worldwide. He touched upon various sourcing related issues that have grappled China ever since Indonesia and then Malaysia put ban on their bauxite exports, and how Australia and to some extent India have tried to leverage upon the gap in supply of the ore in Chinese market.

Insulán went on to describe the bauxite moratorium in detail. According to Insulán, post-moratorium mining in Malaysia should total 1 million to 1.5 million metric tons per month. If local authorities fail to enforce the new regulations, total output may rise to 2 million to 3 million metric tons per month.

CRU’s Head of Aluminium Paul Williams presented on the changing face of the aluminium industry. After discussing traditional sources of value in the industry, Williams identified several ways in which the industry incorrectly judged the impact of industrialization of the Chinese aluminium sector.

As alluded to in Insulán’s presentation above, importing huge quantities of bauxite is a fact of life for China’s aluminium industry, Williams said, and this logistics issue is bound to be a limiting factor with which the Middle Kingdom must wrestle for some time to come.