
South Africa's aluminium exports logged a growth over the last three years. South Africa’s exports of aluminium in 2017 grew 14 per cent from the previous year. South32’s Hillside aluminium smelter in Richards Bay, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, has been single-handedly producing the primary metal for domestic market as well as shipping ingots to the international customers. Hillside Aluminium smelter uses alumina imported from South32’s Worsley Alumina operation in Australia.
According to recent estimates, in 2016, South Africa exported 511697 tonnes of aluminium in 2016, which increased to reach 583145 tonnes in 2017, an increase of 71448 tonnes from the previous year. In 2018, the country is estimated to export around 622244 tonnes of aluminium to the global market, up 7 per cent from the previous year.
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South Africa's earnings from aluminium export have also increased year-on-year. South Africa exported aluminium worth US$0.8 billion in 2016, which jumped 303 per cent year-on-year to reach US$3.6 billion in 2017. In 2018, the country is estimated to export aluminium valued at US$5.4 billion, up 51 per cent from the previous year.

The top countries that imported aluminium from South Africa in 2017 were (Thailand 97849 tonnes), the USA (88634 tonnes), Japan (91384.7 tonnes), Japan (80516 tonnes), Mexico (55854 tonnes), Netherlands (46890 tonnes) and Turkey (41670 tonnes). Germany, Hong Kong and Italy also imported substantial amount of aluminium from South Africa.
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