SHANGHAI, Sep 13 (SMM) – Regular environmental probes in Henan and Shanxi provinces are likely to bolster bauxite prices there through this month to October, SMM believes. Prices in the two provinces have risen from March, as environmental curbs limited supply.
Shanxi province began to clamp down on illegal mining on August 10 and will continue to do so till the end of the year, according to a provincial announcement on August 10. Most mines in Shanxi and Henan were required to suspend from August 20, after the central government inspection team conducted an environmental review there.
With short supplies domestically, large alumina plants in Henan signed import contracts with overseas suppliers. Some plants have received deliveries and started trial production, SMM learned.
As of September 10, SMM assessed the price of high-grade bauxite at 540 yuan/mt in Henan and Shanxi, up some 40 yuan/mt from September 3.
Prices of bauxite diverged in Guizhou province, as Henan’s alumina plants procured more raw materials there and this raised prices at some mines to highs of 350-400 yuan/mt ex-works as of September 13. Such materials had a high alumina content of 66%. Meanwhile, mines that supplied local producers reported little increases in their prices.
Alumina plants in Guangxi province saw adequate inventories of raw materials. Prices of high-grade bauxite have remained flat at around 300 yuan/mt in the last five months.
