China’s bauxite imports at record-high in September

China’s bauxite imports rose to a record-high of 7.59 million tonnes in September, as looming new capacity boosted raw material demand.

China’s bauxite imports were up 8.7% month-on-month and more than triple the volume received a year ago.

“Surge in bauxite in recent months is mainly due to a possible ban on exports from Indonesia,” Wang Rong, an analyst at Guotai Junan Futures in Shanghai, said.

“China’s new aluminium capacity is huge. All of them need raw materials and it is still profit-making to produce aluminium in north-west China,” Wang said.

September alumina imports were 450,717 tonnes, down 5.9% year-on-year. Imports, however, were more than double those seen in August.

“Imported alumina was trading around 2,000-2,100 yuan per tonne in August and September, compared with 2,450-2,500 yuan per tonne for domestic product,” Xiao Lanlan, an analyst at Huatai Great Wall Futures in Shanghai, said.

The September alumina imports were still within a normal range, analysts said.

In the first nine months, China imported 53.5 million tonnes of bauxite, up 76.4% year-on-year. Alumina imports stood at 2.48 million tonnes, down 33.4% year-on-year.

In September, China imported 53,950 tonnes of aluminium, up 34.4% year-on-year, or 61.6% month-on-month.

Analysts attributed the rise to improvement in arbitrage window in July and August.

Aluminium export was 11,960 tonnes, up 17.5% month-on-month and down 45.4% year-on-year.

Secondary aluminium imports rose 1.6% year-on-year and were up 1.7% month-on-month to 237,706 tonnes in September.