Metal Bulletin conference highlights challenges for sourcing bauxite for Indian alumina refineries

Two alumina refineries located in the Eastern Ghats mountains in India are not able to mine their nominated bauxite deposits as a result of forest and tribal issues, Dr Ashok Nandi, secretary of International Bauxite, Alumina and Aluminium Society said on Thursday October 31. Vedanta’s 1-million tpy Lanjigarh alumina refinery in Odisha and Anrak’s newly commissioned 1.5-million tpy refinery in Andhra Pradesh are both struggling to buy bauxite, Nandi told delegates at Metal Bulletin’s 3rd Asian Bauxite and Alumina conference. “They are looking for medium- to high-grade imported bauxite for blending with locally available aluminous laterites and low-grade bauxite,” he said. The Lanjigarh refinery recently restarted as it managed to buy bauxite from Gujarat and Belgium, and import Guinean bauxite from CBG, he said. “Lanjigarh is struggling to get bauxite from its own mines,” Nandi said. Anrak’s new alumina refinery which was commissioned earlier in this year will need 4 million tpy of bauxite. It started based on limited quantity of bauxite from Gujarat, he added. Anrak is scouting for medium- to high-grade gibbsitic bauxite which can be blended with low-grade local material. “These plants are not as desperate as China’s refineries [for bauxite],” Nandi said. India has resources of various grades of aluminous laterites, but prices for caustic soda used in the production of alumina are much higher in India than in China. For every percentage increase in caustic soda the cost of producing one tonne of alumina goes up by $8.54, he said. Transporting bauxite from western to eastern part of India costs almost the same as imported ore, Nandi said. “In the next 3-5 years I don’t think there will be any new refinery coming up in India except Aditya Birla,” he added. Aditya Aluminium is yet to start construction at its 1.5 million tpa alumina refinery in Odisha, he said. “If [alumina refineries in India] can get 45-47% alumina and 1.5-2% silica content bauxite they are ready to pay $60-80 per tonne [cif Vizag] for bauxite as they can blend it with local bauxite,” Nandi said. But the new standalone Indian alumina refineries planned on the basis of local bauxite, cannot afford to import high cost medium-grade bauxite for in the long term, he said. “In the short term, only good quality gibbsitic bauxite will be viable for import in India,” Nandi said. India exports about 5.5 million to 6 million tonnes of bauxite per year from the west coast, which has 6-8% silica content and 40-41% alumina content. “If they get better price in export market they like to sell the bauxite [outside the country],” he said. He said Indian bauxite was being sold between $32-38 fob to China.