China alumina production fell 2.5% in 2019

SHANGHAI, Jan 8 (SMM) – China produced 5.87 million mt of alumina in December, with metallurgical-grade materials accounting for 5.62 million mt, showed SMM data.

This brought China’s alumina production in 2019 to 70.42 million mt, down 2.47% from 2018.

Last month, production of metallurgical-grade alumina averaged 181,000 mt per day, down 9.01% from December 2018 and 0.26% from November as Luoyang Wanji cut its capacity in operation to 800,000 mt /year.

Alumina refineries that suspended or trimmed output in November due to bauxite supply shortages, environmental woes or losses did not recover in December, while the Jingxi Tiangui project failed to see production ramping up as expected.

As of early January, alumina capacity in operation in China reduced to 66.19 million mt on an annualised basis, as Guangxi Xinfa and Xinghua Technology curtailed production.

With average daily production shrinking to 180,000 mt, China’s production of metallurgical-grade alumina is likely to slip to 5.58 million mt in January. Jingxi Tiangui, however, will likely help limit the decline.