Australia and Malaysia’s bauxite exports to China drop while Brazil exports grow MoM in Aug

China, the now largest aluminium market in the world accounting for about 50 per cent of the world’s total output, is a voracious consumer of bauxite. The Asian giant sources its aluminium ore from all the leading bauxite producing countries of the world with Guinea topping the list as the largest supplier. The country is closely followed by Australia (the erstwhile highest exporter of bauxite to China), Malaysia, Brazil, and India. However, over the past three months, bauxite exports from Australia and Malaysia have been declining, while bauxite exports from Brazil have been growing month-on-month.

Australia exported 2.37 million tonnes of bauxite in June this year, which dropped to 1.9 million tonnes in July. In August, the export volume rose slightly to reach 2.3 million tonnes.

Malaysia’s bauxite export to China has declined significantly from 915,821 tonnes in June 2017 to 549,995 tonnes in August 2017. In July it stood at 651,435 tonnes, according to the export-import data published by the General Customs of China.

Bauxite exports from Brazil, on the contrary, have risen considerably. From 207,047 tonnes in June this year, the export volume has climbed to 527,617 tonnes in August (+154.8%). Supply uncertainties in some of the major Brazilian bauxite mines seem to have had little impact on its international shipments, at least, in the near term.

Bauxite exports from Guinea to China have remained sustainably high since the beginning of this year. Over the three-month period under review, Guinea’s bauxite exports have risen from 2.74 million tonnes in June to 2.78 million tonnes in August (+1.45 per cent).