Turkey to reduce its alumina import by 45.5% YoY in 2017

Turkey, the transcontinental country in Eurasia, is aiming to reduce its alumina import in 2017, according to the estimates provided by global alumina trade data. The country’s only integrated aluminium producer Eti Alüminyum Inc. Co. having 230,000 tonnes per annum of calcined alumina production capacity seems to be mulling production increase at its Seydişehir Plant or devising strategies in the same line. The company produced 110,000 tonnes of alumina in 2015.

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According to the international trade data, Turkey imported 42,342 tonnes of alumina in 2016, a whopping 136 per cent up from its 2015 imports totalling 17,948 tonnes. This year, the country is estimated to import only 23,052 tonnes of alumina, down 45.5 per cent year-on-year.

The major countries from where Turkey has been importing its alumina includes over the last three years include Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, USA, and China.

According to China’s General Customs data released on August 23, Turkey’s alumina import from China totalled 560 tonnes in July and 602 tonnes during January-July 2017.

The Turkish aluminium industry is characterized by the presence of a large number of international and regional manufacturers of downstream aluminium products. The latest market report by Technavio says Turkey's aluminium manufacturing market will grow at a CAGR of approximately 4 per cent until 2020. The rising demand from the downstream sector is expected to keep the domestic demand for alumina buoyed up in the foreseeable future. However, whether the import will rise or decline, will depend on how the country strategizes its raw material procurement.