Alumina Import
Australia’s alumina exports fall 9.46% despite China’s 19-fold import surge, with shipments to Indonesia & Oman also rising
Australia, one of the world’s major alumina production and export hubs, witnessed a significant shift in its trade flows in the first half (H1) of 2026. Although the country’s total alumina exports declined, shipments to China surged nearly 19-fold, making it Australia’s one of the largest export destinations. Meanwhile, exports to the UAE and South Africa fell, while Indonesia and Oman recorded increases. Australia exported 6.7 million tonnes of alumina worldwide in H1 2026, down 9.46 per cent from 7.4 million tonnes in H1 2025. Compared with 7.5 million tonnes in H1 2024, exports declined by 800,000 tonnes, or 10.67 per cent, over two years. The contrasting performance across major destinations highlights how Middle East shipping disruptions, changes in aluminium production requirements...
Hindalco’s digital alumina tender tests a new route to price discovery
With only 10 per cent of globally traded alumina changing hands on the spot market, Hindalco is moving its tenders online in an effort to strengthen the evidence behind benchmark prices. For a commodity market where a relatively small number of transactions can influence prices across a much larger pool of long-term contracts, the quality of the underlying data matters. That is the challenge facing alumina, and Hindalco is now testing whether digital trading infrastructure can help address it. Hindalco is expected to conduct its first digital tender for metallurgical-grade alumina on Metalshub before the end of 2026. The physical cargo sold through the tender may be only part of the significance of the transaction. The more important outcome could be the structured market data generated...
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A report that reveals where the aluminium casting industry is heading and how businesses can act.
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US alumina imports reach 712kt in H1 2026, up 2.7% despite Q2 decline
Alumina imports in the United States increased in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, although imports fell sharply in the second quarter. Total imports reached 712,000 tonnes in H1 2026, up 2.7 per cent from 693,000 tonnes in H1 2025. The H1 2024 total was 495,000 tonnes. Imports in Q1 2026 reached 446,000 tonnes, up 32 per cent from 337,000 tonnes in Q1 2025. However, imports dropped to 266,000 tonnes in Q2 (a 25 per cent decline) from 356,000 tonnes in the same quarter a year earlier. Brazil remains the largest supplier Brazil remained the largest exporter of alumina to the US during the period covered by the data. Its shipments reached 568,000 tonnes in H1 2026, around 5 per cent increase from 542,000 tonnes in H1 2025. In H1 2024, Brazil supplied 430,000...
Alumina turns to net exports in August; net export pattern expected to widen further in September
I. Total volume: Monthly pattern shifts from net import to net export According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs of China, from January to August 2026, China's cumulative alumina imports reached 2.994 million tonnes, up more than fivefold year-on-year; cumulative exports totalled 2.339 million tonnes, up about 33 per cent year-on-year; cumulative net imports stood at 654,000 tonnes, narrowing from 729,000 tonnes in January–July. Although the net import pattern persists, the scale of net imports has continued to shrink, further easing the impact of imports on the domestic market. On a monthly basis, China imported 349,500 tonnes of alumina and exported 425,000 tonnes in August, resulting in net exports of 75,500 tonnes — the first shift from net imports to net...
Hindalco partners with Metalshub to launch digital alumina spot tenders
Hindalco Industries has partnered with Germany-based digital marketplace Metalshub to introduce a structured online bidding process for spot sales of metallurgical-grade alumina, with the first tender expected between October and December 2026. The initiative aims to bring greater competition and transaction-based price discovery to a segment of the alumina market where most volumes are traditionally traded through long-term contracts. Under the new process, qualified buyers will be able to participate in confidential digital request-for-bid events, allowing multiple bidders to compete for available spot alumina volumes. Metalshub said the approach will generate transaction data from competitive bidding, potentially providing a more transparent reference for spot-market pricing. Digital...
Guinea looks beyond bauxite as Glencore partnership expands into alumina and energy
Guinea is looking to expand its partnership with Glencore beyond bauxite exports, with the two sides discussing potential investments in alumina refining, energy and other strategic projects as Conakry seeks to build more processing capacity at home. The discussions follow a more than USD 300 million bauxite pre-financing and offtake agreement signed last week between state-owned Nimba Mining and Glencore. Under the deal, the Swiss commodities group will market 10–12 million tonnes of bauxite annually for five years, giving it a significant position in one of the world's largest bauxite-producing countries. Guinea's Mines Minister Bouna Sylla said the agreement could provide a foundation for a broader partnership across the country's aluminium value chain. "Glencore has indicated strong...
From black shale to smelter feed: CEM advances North American alumina supply chain
Canadian Energy Metals has demonstrated a process for producing smelter-grade alumina from Saskatchewan black shale and has started a prefeasibility study for its Thor Project. Canadian Energy Metals Corp. (CEM) has taken a step towards developing an alternative North American source of alumina after demonstrating that material derived from its Saskatchewan black shale resource can be converted into smelter-grade alumina (SGA). The company said testing has consistently produced SGA samples meeting the same purity and specifications as alumina made through the Bayer Process, the established industry route for refining bauxite. The result expands the potential development pathway for CEM's Thor Project, where the company is pursuing alumina alongside strategic and critical metals from black...
Impact Minerals plans staged 4,000-tpa HPA production in US
A NewPro study supports a staged 2,000-to-4,000-tonne-per-year high-purity alumina plant on the US Gulf Coast, with a post-tax NPV of about USD373 million and a 42.3 per cent IRR. Impact Minerals is advancing plans for a modular high-purity alumina (HPA) plant in the US after an independent scoping study identified a preferred development case on the Gulf Coast. The study, completed by NewPro for Impact's 50 per cent-owned Alluminous Pty Ltd, supports a staged facility starting at 2,000 tonnes per year of HPA and scaling to 4,000 tonnes per year. It models a post-tax NPV₈ of AUD 518 million (USD 373 million) and an internal rate of return of 42.3 per cent, based on an AUD/USD rate of about 0.7206 on September 7, 2026. The findings strengthen Alluminous' plan to establish its first...
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