According to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) survey, the world alumina production (including chemical-grade alumina) in January 2025 showed a slight month-on-month decline, totalling 12.83 million tonnes versus 12.852 million tonnes in December 2024.
A closer look at the monthly alumina production reveals that metallurgical-grade alumina output remained stable at 12.111 million tonnes in January 2025, compared to 12.116 million tonnes in December 2024. Chemical-grade alumina production, on the other hand, registered a 2.31 per cent fall M-o-M from 736,000 tonnes to 719,000 tonnes, leading to a downfall of overall alumina production in January.The world’s daily average metallurgical-grade alumina production in January 2025 was 390,700 tonnes, compared to 390,800 tonnes in December 2024 and 367,100 tonnes in January 2024.
Contributors to the monthly dip
Now, it is essential to see which key alumina-producing regions contributed to the monthly downfall in alumina production in January 2025. The data from IAI has established that South America was primarily responsible for the fall in January, with an output of 949,000 tonnes, down by 4 per cent from 989,000 tonnes. Even in Europe (including Russia), alumina production in January saw a M-o-M dip of 1,000 tonnes from 523,000 tonnes to 522,000 tonnes. Besides, the muted output in Oceania and China at 1.519 and 7.173 million tonnes, showing no significant growth from the previous month, offset the rise in worldwide alumina production in January.
Even on a year-on-year basis, Oceania and South America saw declines of 5.9 per cent and 1.15 per cent, respectively, from 1.614 million tonnes and 960,000 tonnes. However, the output in China and Europe edged significant hikes of 11.85 per cent and 9.21 per cent from 6.413 million tonnes and 1614 million tonnes.
The regions that experienced monthly hikes in alumina production in January 2025 were Africa & Asia (ex-China), with an output of 1.230 million tonnes versus 1.212 million tonnes, and North America, where production rose from 143,000 tonnes to 157,000 tonnes.
Amid the month-on-month downtrend, the year-on-year growth in overall alumina production provided a much-needed boost to the global industry. According to IAI, global alumina production (including chemical-grade) in January saw a year-on-year increase of 6.29 per cent from 12.071 million tonnes to 12.83 million tonnes. Metallurgical-grade as well as chemical-grade alumina witnessed production upsurge of 6.43 per cent and 3.9 per cent from 11.379 million tonnes to 12.111 million tonnes and from 692,000 tonnes tonnes to 719,000 tonnes, respectively.
The daily average output of metallurgical-grade alumina also saw a year-on-year rise of 6.43 per cent from 367,100 tonnes to 390,700 tonnes, found IAI.
