Bosnia's alumina exports to surge 88% YoY in 2017 supported by Alumina's ambitious plans

The mineral sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina is dominated by the mine output of bauxite, iron ore, and lead-zinc ore while the metallurgy sector produces aluminium and steel. As per USGS 2013 Bosnia Mineral Yearbook data, the gross domestic product (GDP) was $17.8 billion in 2013, while the values of the country’s exports and imports were $5.8 billion and $10.3 billion, respectively. Exports of metal ores were valued at $38.5 million and made up about 48.5% of the total value of mining and quarrying exports. Alumina production and exports, since 2012, have decreased year-on-year. Total alumina output in 2013 stood at 175,961 tonnes, down 13% from 2012.

{newsStudioGallery}

In 2015, Bosnia Herzegovina exported 211377.84 tonnes of alumina worth US$75.63 million, which declined both volume and value-wise to stand at 165069.13 tonnes, valued at US$53.99 million. The volume decrease was estimated at 22% year-on-year.

In 2017, till November, Bosnia Herzegovina is estimated to export 177581.85 tonnes of alumina, up 88.2 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. The value of the commodity export is estimated to reach US$58.3 million in the period under consideration.

Bosnia's major mineral development company Alumina said on Tuesday, March 14, that it plans to earn 240 million marka ($130.4 million/122.7 million euro) from the exports of 500,000 tonnes of various products in 2017.

The company expects to produce 535,000 tonnes of minerals (including 290,000 tonnes of alumina) throughout the year, and intends to keep only 35,000 tonnes for the domestic market, said Dr. Radislav Filipovic, Alumina's director of business marketing and production in most of Zvornik collective, in an official release.

{googleAdsense}

Alumina currently exports alumina and other products to 28 countries across the globe, throughout Europe, America, Africa and Asia. In the current calendar year, it expects to introduce some 10 new products which will lead to market diversification.