Australia's bauxite export value drops 29% in H1 2026 despite modest volume decline

Australia's bauxite export value declined to USD 832.4 million in the first half of 2026, while shipments fell by 3.2 per cent year on year, with China maintaining its dominance as the leading destination.

Australia's bauxite export value fell by 29.2 per cent Y-o-Y in the first half of 2026, even as export quantities recorded a more modest decline, according to data from ITC Trade Map. The country exported 19.22 million tonnes of bauxite and aluminium ores and concentrates worth USD 832.38 million in Q1-Q2 2026, compared with 19.85 million tonnes valued at USD 1.18 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.

The figures point to a sharper fall in the reported value of exports than in shipment volumes. Australia's average export value per tonne, calculated by dividing reported export value by quantity, declined from approximately USD 59.23 per tonne in H1 2025 to USD 43.31 per tonne in H1 2026, a decrease of 26.9 per cent. This is an indicative unit value based on aggregate trade data, rather than a quoted market price.

Australia's bauxite exports weaken in both quarters

The decline in export value was recorded in both quarters of the first half. In Q1 2026, Australia's bauxite export value fell by 32.8 per cent Y-o-Y to USD 352.67 million, while the exported quantity decreased by 11.1 per cent to 7.90 million tonnes.

In Q2 2026, export value declined by 26.3 per cent to USD 479.71 million. However, quantities increased by 3.3 per cent Y-o-Y to 11.32 million tonnes, indicating that the quarterly value decline was not accompanied by a fall in volume.

The figures also show a change from the preceding years' growth in export value. Australia's reported bauxite export value rose from USD 807.47 million in 2022 to USD 1.12 billion in 2023, USD 1.65 billion in 2024 and USD 2.34 billion in 2025.

Export quantities increased over the same period, although at a different pace. Shipments totalled 36.50 million tonnes in 2022 and 37.70 million tonnes in 2023, before rising to 43.01 million tonnes in 2024 and 45.08 million tonnes in 2025. In 2021, Australia exported 36.48 million tonnes valued at USD 1.03 billion.

The first-half figures for 2026 therefore show a decline from the corresponding period of 2025, following several years of growth in annual export value and volume.

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China accounts for a larger share of Australian bauxite exports

China remained Australia's dominant destination for bauxite and aluminium ores and concentrates in H1 2026. Exports to China totalled approximately 18.67 million tonnes, compared with 18.23 million tonnes in H1 2025, an increase of 2.4 per cent.

Despite the increase in volume, the value of exports to China declined by 24.0 per cent, from USD 1.06 billion in H1 2025 to USD 805.75 million in H1 2026. China accounted for approximately 97.2 per cent of Australia's reported export volume and 96.8 per cent of export value during the first half of 2026, up from 91.8 per cent and 90.2 per cent, respectively, in the same period of 2025.

Other destinations recorded lower exports. Shipments to South Korea fell from approximately 244,000 tonnes in H1 2025 to 197,000 tonnes in H1 2026, while their reported value declined from USD 19.08 million to USD 9.39 million.

Exports to the United Arab Emirates also decreased substantially. Quantities fell from approximately 1.28 million tonnes in the first half of 2025 to 350,488 tonnes in H1 2026. Their reported value dropped from USD 92.42 million to USD 17.25 million over the same period.

The United States recorded approximately USD 3.43 million in Australian bauxite exports in H1 2025, while the supplied dataset records no exports to the country in the first half of 2026. New Zealand, Guinea, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and India also appear in the destination breakdown, although the reported values for these markets were negligible or zero in the period.

Export value diverges from volume trend

Australia's H1 2026 figures highlight the difference between changes in the quantity of bauxite shipped and the value recorded for those shipments. While total export volume decreased by 3.2 per cent, export value fell by 29.2 per cent. The calculated average export value per tonne also declined by 26.9 per cent, reflecting the divergence between the two measures.

The available data establishes the scale and destination of the changes but does not identify the reasons behind the fall in export value. It does, however, show that China continued to dominate Australia's bauxite trade and that the first-half decline followed an increase in annual export value to USD 2.34 billion in 2025.

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