China’s alumina imports continued to surge in September by 331.9% YoY, while exports dropped

After the month-on-month fall in August 2019, China’s General Administration of Customs data found that China’s alumina import in September 2019 grew from the previous month by about 25 per cent to stand at 147,000 tonnes. In August, the import volume was at 120,000 tonnes after dropping by 40 per cent from 200,000 tonnes in July.

Besides, on a yearly basis, China’s imports in September continued to record a robust surge of 331.9 per cent, but at a slower pace compared with August when the aluminium ore imports had soared by 848.4 per cent year-on-year.

In the total nine months of 2019, China’s alumina imports came in at around 790,000 tonnes, up 93.3 per cent from the same period last year.

According to report from China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association in June, China was expected to import around 1 million tonnes of alumina in 2019, almost double the 510,000 tonnes imported in 2018 amid a shortage of domestic alumina supply.

So, China’s exports of alumina have been inching down, on the other hand, while September was no exception. The export volume of September stood at 34,345 tonnes, down 79.3 per cent from a year ago.

In the total nine months January-September, the exports stood down year on year as well by about 58.6 per cent to 223,134 tonnes.