China’s alumina export in June beats 16-year record, up 24% than previous month

According to China customs data, alumina export from China stood at 118,000 tonnes in June, up 24 per cent from May’s export of 89,999 tonnes. This marks the highest level since the year 2002.

The exports during May and June, at 208,000 tonnes were in line with SMM’s expectation. Moreover, with the reopening of export windows, new export orders for alumina were heard to be signed this month, which is likely to create an impact in the export data for July and August.

Separate, China imported 50,000 tonnes of alumina in June, bringing the net export to 68,000 tonnes last month.

As logistics source with operations in China confirmed, Chinese traders were stockpiling alumina to increase the export volume and reap profits from record prices for spot cargoes, attributed to US sanctions of UC Rusal.

According to the international export-import data, the estimated alumina export from China stood at 20,594 tonnes in June, in contrast to 17,347 tonnes in May. Thus, the estimated export in June was up 16 per cent than the previous month. The estimated revenue also grew along with the volume from US$29 million, as of May, to US$ 34 million in June.

In April, on the other hand, the estimated export volume from China stood at 12,945 tonnes, according to the global data, down from previous month’s estimated export volume of 14,319 tonnes. January and February saw an estimated export volume at 10,940 tonnes and 10,930 tonnes, respectively.

The below chart shows a comparative data of estimated alumina export volume from China:

The revenue from the export in January, February, March and April respectively stood at US$ 12 million, US$ 13 million, US$ 21 million, and US$ 16 million.

The below chart shows a comparative data of estimated revenue from China’s alumina export: