Australia outshines Guinea as China’s top bauxite supplier in Sept 2017

After putting up a somewhat muted show for two consecutive months- July and August, Australia's bauxite exports to China grew in September 2017. The volume increased by 63 per cent year-on-year to reach 2.83 million tonnes, higher by 369,303 tonnes from Guinea’s bauxite exports to China (2.46 million tonnes). Bauxite imports from Brazil dropped by 15 per cent to reach 369,223 tonnes in the month under review.

China’s total bauxite import in the month of September increased by 47.28 per cent from the same period previous year to reach 6.54 million tonnes (up from 6.52 million tonnes in August 2017). The first nine-month cumulative bauxite import also grew by 35.8 per cent year-over-year to reach 51.15 million tonnes by the end of September 2017. This is in contrast with primary aluminium output fell (1.1 per cent on month) a third straight month in September, official data showed, although it still remains on track to hit a record high in 2017 despite capacity cuts.

China has been importing highest quantity of bauxite from Guinea for the past three months. Bauxite imports from the country in July and August were recorded at 2.72 million tonnes and 2.78 million tonnes respectively. Australia’s imports during the same period lagged at 1.96 million tonnes and 2.3 million tonnes respectively. In September, Australia raised its bauxite export volume to China and shipped 2.83 million tonnes of the ore.

China’s bauxite imports from Solomon Islands have also been growing at a steady on-month rate. The island nation shipped 98,477 tonnes of bauxite in July, which surged to 155,250 tonnes in August and to 163,113 tonnes in September 2017.

India’s bauxite exports to China though have risen from 54,628 tonnes in August to 104,799 tonnes in September remain still lower by 67.16 per cent compared to the same period previous year.