China’s bauxite imports dropped in September for the second consecutive month

Shanghai Metals Market found that China’s bauxite imports fell in September for the second straight month, due to a weak supply from major sources such as the Republic of Guinea, as the latter entered a rainy season in July.

Customs data under HS code 26060000 showed that China imported 6.75 million tonnes of bauxite in September, down 21.86 per cent from 9.04 million tonnes in August 2019 and 2.08 per cent from 6.89 million tonnes.

This brought imports in the first nine months of 2019 to 78.13 million tonnes, up 26.79% from the same period a year earlier.

From Guinea, China imported 1.79 million tonnes in the month of September, down 50.89 per cent from August, marking a decline for the second month in a row. From Australia, on the other hand, the China’s bauxite import volume rose by 2.93 per cent month-on-month to come in at 3.33 million tonnes. This helped the Pacific island country surpass the west-coastal country in West Africa to be the top bauxite supplier to China.

The rainy season in Guinea from July onwards subdues the mining operations. Data in the last three years has been showing that China’s bauxite import from the Republic of Guinea begins to shrink from July and the recovers from November.

Strikes at several mines in Guinea also contributed to fewer imports last month.

Indonesia came as the third largest bauxite exporter to China. The exports grew 6.93 per cent from a month ago and 54.32 per cent from a year ago to 1.21 million tonnes last month.

In September, China imported 287,600 tonnes of bauxite from Brazil, 102,200 tonnes from Solomon Islands, 28,300 tonnes from Jamaica, and 100 tonnes from Guyana.