Alumina exports from Russia to be valued at $1.74 mln in 2017, up 25% YoY

The Russian Federation plays a key role in the global aluminium industry value chain. Its major aluminium producer UC RUSAL is a vertically integrated company with bauxite processing and alumina refining operations in Russia's Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk region and Leningrad region. Metallurgical alumina is produced by RUSAL at its Bogoslovsk, Urals, Nikolaev refineries, Basel Cement Pikalevo, Aughinish, Windalco, QAL, Friguia, Eurallumina, and Alpart refineries. Though majority alumina produced by RUSAL is used for in-house aluminium production, a significant percentage is sold to the external customers and it enjoys reasonable demand in the international market.

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The five-year historic trade data reveals a year-on-year increasing trend in Russia's alumina export. Alumina export from the country has soared from 148.61 tonnes in 2013 to an estimated 4358.07 tonnes in 2016. In 2015, the volume of alumina export stood at 1247.19 tonnes. The rise in exports has been around 250 per cent YoY which can be attributed to scaling of production by the prime alumina producers of the company. In 2017 (till November), the figure is expected to increase further- Russia's alumina export is estimated to reach 5059.31 tonnes, up around 16 per cent from the corresponding period previous year.

Revenue from alumina export has also logged a substantial growth for the Russian Federation over the last five-year period. The value of export has surged from US$164,744.06 in 2013 to US$1.39 million in 2016. In 2017, Russia is estimated to sell alumina worth US$1.74 million to external customers, up 25 per cent from the previous year.

The top importing countries of the Russian alumina in 2016 were Belarus (3281.93 tonnes), Germany (197.86 tonnes), Hungary (319 tonnes), India (285.42 tonnes), and Ukraine (249.84 tonnes).

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Rusal's revenue earned from alumina sales to the external customers grew from US$617 million in 2015 to US$655 million in 2016, revealed data published in the company's report for the financial year ended 31 December 2016. The company's total alumina production was estimated based on average sustainable production levels of 7.8 million metric tonnes in the period under review.