China diversifies bauxite sources while imports decline 2.8% YoY in Sept 2016

China diversified its bauxite imports sources in September this year in order to meet the rising demand from the domestic alumina industry, reported Shanghai Metals Market. In spite of shrinking imports of aluminium ore from Australia and Guinea, shipments from India, Fiji and Solomon Islands grew steadily. Annual shipments into China have accounts for an average 60 per cent of global bauxite imports since 2010, despite several major supply disruptions.

In 2016, China's total bauxite import is estimated to reach 59.4 million metric tonnes, valued at US$ 1.9 billion.

China General Customs data released recently showed the country imported 4.47 million metric tonnes of bauxite in September, down 2.87 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. The figure, however, inched higher by 0.2 per cent from August 2016. Bauxite imports from Australia declined 22.4 per cent month-on-month to total at 1.74 million tonnes in September 2016. Shipments from Guinea also shrunk by 3.3 per cent month-on-month to stand at 970,000 tonnes in the month under review.

Malaysian shipments registered a YoY fall of three million tonnes to total at just 0.7 million tonnes, thanks to the bauxite export ban that got extended in September till end of the year. The country imposed a ban on bauxite imports in January this year following a public outrage over environmental harm that was being caused by widespread, unregulated mining of the ore.

Nevertheless, annual shipments into China have accounted for an average 60 per centof global bauxite imports since 2010, despite several major supply disruptions.

China's appetite for bauxite does not seem to slow down in the near future as SMM analysts predict a continuous rise in imports of the ore supported by production restarts by the country's major alumina producers. Alumina price rise in the recent quarters in China's major markets has incentivised alumina refiners to bring back their closed capacity to operation. This trend is expected to support Chinese bauxite import growth in full year 2016, even despite the loss of Malaysia as a primary supplier.

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