China’s bauxite imports record 24.5% growth in 2018 on growing demand and unstable domestic supply

China Customs data found that bauxite imports into China jumped in 2018 to total at 85.61 million tonnes against 64.63 million tonnes in 2017. The Chinese government’s environmental restrictions and crackdowns on the black market tightened domestic supplies and thus prompted increasing imports of the ore. Expansion of alumina production through the year also been a reason for China’s growing bauxite imports in 2018.

In the first 10 months of last year, China’s bauxite imports accounted for about 45 per cent of the country’s overall bauxite supplies, as domestic production rose by only 1.8 per cent year-on-year during that time.

China’s alumina production, on the other hand, recorded about 70.48 million tonnes in 2018, up 3.01 per cent from 68.35 million tonnes in 2017.

Production lines at most alumina refineries in China were designed for domestic ores. But the growing output of alumina expanded consumption of domestic bauxite, leading to a decline in the quality of ores. Lower quality prompted alumina refineries to use more ores and furthered tightened the supplies of domestic bauxite. Yunnan Aluminium and State Power Investment’s alumina unit in Shanxi began to use mixed raw materials of domestic and imported bauxite for production.

SMM assessments showed that along with volume, the prices of seaborne bauxite is increasing as well. In 2018, while the average seaborne bauxite price was at US$54 per tonne; in 2017, it was at US$51 per tonne, up US$3 per tonne. These gains in volumes and prices suggest that China’s demand for seaborne bauxite is on the rise.

As of 2016, China’s reserves of bauxite took up for 17 per cent of the globe’s total while the output of alumina accounted for more than 50%.