Analysis of the current situation of using imported ore in inland alumina plants in China

Release time:

2023-12-20

With the continuous release of domestic alumina production capacity and the successive introduction of national environmental protection policies, the supply and demand balance of China's inland alumina raw materials has undergone significant changes. Especially since May 2018, the supply of bauxite in Henan and Shanxi has been tight, and the price of bauxite has risen sharply. my country's inland alumina plants have begun to use imported ore as a raw material supplement.

　　Background and current situation of using imported ore

Domestic ore prices have risen sharply, there is a large gap in domestic demand, and the demand for imported ore has soared. By the end of 2018, China's Henan and Shanxi provinces had a ore gap of about 2.5 million tons; it is estimated that the ore gap between the two provinces will be about 18 million tons in 2019. A large amount of ore demand gap caused bauxite prices to rise sharply. At present, the price of imported ore is almost the same as that of domestic ore. If the price of domestic ore continues to rise, the advantage of imported ore will become more and more obvious. As of October 2018, China's alumina production capacity, which mainly relies on imported bauxite, has increased to 31.6 million tons, and its operating capacity has also increased to 29.8 million tons.

According to the current alumina operating capacity, China's total demand for imported bauxite in 2018 is 71.65 million tons. As domestic bauxite production is affected by factors such as environmental protection and mine remediation to reduce supply, more alumina companies will use imported bauxite, especially companies in Shanxi, Henan and other places. It is expected that bauxite imports will increase to 74 million Tons to 78 million tons.

In the past six months, the price of domestic bauxite has gradually increased; in comparison, the price of imported bauxite has been stable, and the price of imported bauxite in some countries has even decreased slightly. If the environmental protection and mine remediation in Shanxi, Henan and other places are not relaxed in the future, then domestic bauxite prices will continue to rise, and the price difference between domestic and foreign bauxite will narrow again, and even domestic bauxite prices will be higher than imported mines.

The global bauxite metallogenic belt is mainly distributed in Africa, Oceania, South America and Southeast Asia. From the perspective of national distribution, bauxite is mainly distributed in Guinea, Australia, Brazil, Jamaica, Vietnam and Indonesia. Among them, Guinea (reserves of 7.4 billion tons), Australia (reserves of 6.2 billion tons) and Brazil (reserves of 2.6 billion tons), Jamaica (2 billion tons) 4 countries have proven bauxite reserves accounted for about 65% of the world's total bauxite reserves of 28 billion tons. From the perspective of global bauxite reserves, my country's bauxite resources are not rich. The bauxite reserves are 0.98 billion tons, which is not only far lower than Guinea, Australia, and Brazil, but also lower than Vietnam and Indonesia even in Asia.

Key words:

Aluminium Industry,Emissions,Energy saving

Impact of Global Market on China's Alumina Industry

The construction of global carbon emissions trading market is accelerating.

Impact of Global Market on China's Alumina Industry

The construction of global carbon emissions trading market is accelerating.