South Korea's alumina imports increase YoY with Japan topping the list of suppliers

The demand for alumina or aluminium oxide, which is obtained by refining bauxite ore and electrolysed to yield aluminium metal using the Hall-Héroult process, is on the rise driven by enhanced consumption by the aluminium industry. Prices of the mineral though remained under pressure in H2 2016 due to a combined effect of softening Chinese demand for imported alumina, swift Chinese refinery restarts and lower refining costs, the outlook seems bright for 2017, states CRU.

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The global activated alumina and high purity markets, too, are anticipated to exhibit high rates of growth during 2016-2020. This is mainly attributable to industrial and economic development in the countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, Asia-Pacific is estimated to have the largest market for High Purity Alumina at US$1.7 billion in 2015, forecast at US$2 billion in 2016, the region is also projected to be the fastest growing market with a robust CAGR of 13.5% between 2016 and 2022 to reach a projected US$4.3 billion by 2022. The increasing demand for HPA from the region is attributed to the concentration of associated industries, such as electronics and semiconductors equipment industries in China, South Korea, and Japan.


South Korea is the second highest alumina importing country in the world after the United States. The country imported 0.11 million metric tonnes of alumina worth US$92.6 million in 2014. The volume of alumina imports remained almost unchanged in 2015 with only the value of alumina exports rising to US$0.11 billion, up 28.3 per cent from 2014. In 2016, the South-East Asian country is estimated to import 0.12 million metric tonnes of alumina, with the value rising to US$0.13 billion, up 15.7 per cent year-over-year.


South Korea is estimated to have imported a total volume of 59,986.02 tonnes alumina from Japan, 24,267.11 tonnes from Australia, 10676.3 tonnes from Germany, 9294 tonnes from India, and 3656.01 tonnes from the USA in 2016.

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The rising demand for activated alumina in the ever expanding end-user industries and the increase in refining and production capacity in recent years is expected to benefit the global activated alumina market. The rapid consumption growth in the pharmaceutical industry is expected to further increase the demand for activated alumina in the Asia-Pacific region.