Over the same ten-month period, China's alumina production reached 76.3 million tonnes, representing an 8 per cent on-year increase, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Since the growth in bauxite imports outpaced that of alumina output, the figures signalled an oversupply of bauxite in the domestic sector, market watchers pointed out.
In October alone, China imported 13.8 million tonnes of bauxite, a decline of 13.3 per cent from September but still 12.5 per cent higher compared with a year earlier, according to the GACC. Guinea and Australia remained China's two mainstream sources of imported bauxite, accounting for 65.4 per cent and 27.8 per cent of total arrivals last month, respectively.
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Guinea, China's largest supplier of imported bauxite, delivered 9 million tonnes in October, down 14.2 per cent on the month but up 19.2 per cent on the year. Last month's drop was largely attributed to the West African country's rainy season, which typically lasts from May to October each year, with peak rainfall occurring from July to September this year. Heavy rainfall and strong winds in mid-August and mid-September disrupted mining activities and port operations, resulting in lower arrivals in China in October, according to market analysts.
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