Indonesia's Q1 alumina exports surge 40% Y-o-Y

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The Q1 export volume surged by 40.3 per cent from the 1.1 million tonnes Indonesia shipped abroad during the same period in 2025, Mysteel Global noted. Despite the sharp increase in volume, the value of those alumina exports declined by 27.7 per cent on year to USD 513.8 million during the first three months. This indicated a significant drop in Indonesian alumina prices over the period, Mysteel Global understands.

By destination, Malaysia, Qatar and India were the three largest overseas buyers of Indonesian alumina during the quarter, accounting for 24.4 per cent, 13.1 per cent and 10.3 per cent of total exports respectively, according to Mysteel Global's calculations based on the BPS data.

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Malaysia remained the top export destination last quarter, with shipments to the country climbing by 18.2 per cent on year to 373,366 tonnes.

China was Indonesia's sixth largest alumina export destination in Q1. Its imports from Indonesia reached 100,952 tonnes during the period, soaring from just 741 tonnes a year earlier, the BPS statistics showed. 

However, the BPS figure for Q1 was 82,748 tonnes lower than the data released by China's General Administration of Customs, which reported that the country imported 183,700 tonnes of alumina from Indonesia over January-March, up from 538 tonnes in the same period last year.

On the import side, Indonesia bought 363,973 tonnes of alumina from other countries in Q1 2026, down 2 per cent on year. Australia, Vietnam and India were the top three suppliers.

As such, Indonesia's net exports of alumina reached 1.2 million tonnes during the quarter, jumping by 62.3 per cent compared with January-March last year.

Note: This news is published under a content and exchange agreement with Mysteel