Bloomberg: how did U. S. sanctions help China's alumina exports soar 3.5%?

SMM10, March 25-US President Donald Trump's strong tariff and sanctions policy inadvertently helped China become a key exporter of aluminum.

Exports of alumina, the raw material used to make aluminium, rose nearly 3.5 per cent in September from a year earlier, with China rapidly shifting from a net importer of raw materials to an exporter. United Aluminum Corporation of Russia (United Co. in the United States After Rusal imposed sanctions and imposed production restrictions on one of Brazil's largest alumina plants, global market buyers turned to China because of supply concerns.

(BMO Capital Markets), capital market of the Bank of Montreal, said: "2018 will be the first year for China to become a net exporter of alumina in recent years. As capacity increases, we think this is likely to happen in 2019, "he said.

The once-mundane global alumina market has been thrown into chaos this year. Rusal's smelting business plays a key role in the global aluminum supply chain, and the sanctions imposed on Rusal and the production restrictions at the Norwegian Hydro (Norsk Hydro ASA) plant in Arunot (Alunorte), Brazil, have led to sharp fluctuations in aluminum prices. All this has been a headache for aluminium producers this year.

Rio, for example, said the change in alumina prices would cost it about $300m in old contracts to supply raw materials.

The US Treasury has asked Rusal's controlling shareholder to relinquish control of Rusal by December 12, or face sanctions. Among its assets is a large alumina refinery in Ireland that supplies many aluminium plants in Europe.

Hydro said on Wednesday that it was close to reaching a resolution to allow its Brazilian plant to return to full capacity, but there was no definite timetable.

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