China alumina imports up 17% YoY in March; April imports to rise further

China’s import of alumina totalled 420,834 tonnes in March 2017, up 17 per cent from the same period in last year. January-March (quarter one) imports were up at 921,123 tonnes, revealed data released by China’s General Administration of Customs.

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Alumina exports, as expected, were down by 4.73 per cent at 5,526 tonnes in March. Q1 cumulative exports totalled 12,950 tonnes, showed China Customs data.

Source: Klaveness Research

China imported maximum volume of alumina from Australia during both the periods under review. In March, imports from the island country were up 1.08 per cent at 154,797 tonnes, while for the entire of the first quarter imports totalled 401,116 tonnes.

Indonesia, Vietnam, India, and Jamaica were the other top countries which supplied alumina to China. While alumina imports from Indonesia surged to reach 137,375 tonnes in March, supplies from Vietnam and India dropped 0.11 per cent and 65.8 per cent to reach 67,297 tonnes and 30,907 tonnes respectively during the period under review.

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China despite being a net importer of alumina shipped the mineral commodity to quite a few countries, mainly in Asia and the Middle East. South Korea bought a major chunk of Chinese alumina totalling 3,417 tonnes in March 2017. Other countries that imported alumina from China were Japan, the US, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

Given the recent crackdown of illegal smelting capacity and maintenance work that is going on in refineries in China, it is expected that alumina exports will further drop in the forthcoming quarter. Imports, however, of this key aluminium smelting raw material, will keep rising as many smelters are either readying to bring back their old capacity online or add new capacity in the coming month.