Week In Review: the global bauxite market in news

The week gone by was more or less flat for the global bauxite industry. The newsmakers are mainly from the West African and the Chinese regions.  Jamaica, Fiji and Guinea are working on their bauxite industry potentials, trying to develop the industry through various investment and expansion strategies.  The week is marked by a few developments in the sector, some positive and a few negative.  Bauxite prices have dropped in China in all the major regions.  Here is a quick recap of the trending headlines in the bauxite sector from the week gone by.

Bauxite prices in major Chinese provinces drop; prebake anode prices on the rise

Both bauxite and alumina prices in the domestic China market are on a downtrend in May. Though daily prices remain flat, the prices register a drop on a monthly analysis

According to Shanghai Metals Market record, daily average price of Prebaked Anode remains flat in all the major China markets. Average price of Prebaked Anode (TY-1) in East China market stands at RMB 3,745 per tonne, Prebaked Anode (TY-1) Northwest China price is RMB 3,900 per tonne, Prebaked Anode (TY-1) Southwest China price is RMB 3,500 per tonne, and Prebaked Anode (TY-1) Central China price is RMB 3,550 per tonne as on Wednesday, May 17.

China's growing bauxite appetite to buoy up domestic prices from their current lows

In our last update on China bauxite market, dated May 17, we reported a downtrend for the ore prices in few of the major Chinese provinces. The data presented clearly showed that the average bauxite price (6.0=Al/Si<7.0) in Henan was down at RMB 380 per tonne (-10% from the previous week) and Bauxite (6.0=Al/Si<7.0) Shanxi stood at RMB 355 per tonne (-5% from the previous week), as on May 16. However, given the rising bauxite demand in the China domestic market and the recent clampdown on tax evaders, these price trends are expected to reverse in the short term.

Jamaica may not collect $1.9b for exempting bauxite levy

The Jamaican government is likely to lose nearly $1.9 billion annually for its decision to exempt on the bauxite levy. The government exempted bauxite levy as part of a tax regime overhaul for extractive industries, as reported.

The Financial Gleaner calculated the loss figure based on Global Finance’s 2017 estimate of Jamaica’s US$14.6 billion GDP and sourced from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook 2016.

Fiji’s bauxite export affected due to volatile nature of mining

Fiji’s Director Mineral Development Dr Raijeli Taga said that the bauxite export has been affected from the shores of Bua due to volatile nature of the mining business.  She pointed out that the nation confirmed only one shipment of bauxite to China so far this year.

In March, Fiji announced that its vessel, the MV Ocean Merry, at the port of Galoa in the province of Bua, loaded the first shipment of 70,000 tons of bauxite ore for 2017.

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Guinea should refine its own bauxite instead of exporting it majorly, says president Condé

Guinea cannot afford to thrive on bauxite exports over the long term and keep overlooking developmental issues of its domestic aluminium industry. Doing that would not only make the economy vulnerable in the hands of global commodity price volatility uncontrollable on its part but would also jeopardise the development of its domestic aluminium industry, which otherwise seem to hold greater prospects than projected.

Alpha Condé, the president of the Republic of Guinea, said this last week at the biggest mining event of Guinea, themed around “The Mining Sector: The Key To Transforming The National Economy For The Benefit Of All Actors.”