Supply disruptions in China may delay brown fused alumina deliveries in April, May

Environmental protection authorities in China that recently got down to track non-conformance by the country's numerous aluminium smelters and alumina refineries seem to have impacted the global trade of alumina and bauxite in the short-term. Deliveries of some contracts of brown fused alumina and bauxite may be delayed in April and May, reported reliable industry sources.

A number of bauxite and alumina suppliers have told the sources that the ongoing production related problems in China's refineries could delay the deliveries.

Apart from the supply issues originating from the China market, most of the European buyers are also reported to be not fully covered in the short term. The bauxite and alumina suppliers do not see any quality issues that could result in the declining demand of the commodities in the global market, the source said.

China exported 2,038 tonnes of alumina in February 2017, up 54.79 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. The total alumina exports during January-February totalled 7,424 tonnes.

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As previously reported, the Chinese government started its anti-pollution drive in July 2016 that led to shutting down of many polluting plants in several regions. The pollution control teams ended their inspection drive last week.

However, suppliers have warned that supply disruptions from China could extend for a while now as many bauxite processors and alumina refineries have not been able to restart production at their units.