China’s bauxite imports fell 4% in May

SHANGHAI, Jun 29 (SMM) – China's imports of bauxite, the main ore source of aluminium and which has to be first refined into alumina, fell slightly in May, propelled by a decline in flows from the top supplier the Republic of Guinea which was headed for the wet season and as demand reduced after some refiners scaled back operations.

China imported 9.54 million mt of bauxite in May, down 3.98% from the previous month but up 3.57% from the same month of 2019, according to China customs data under HS code 26060000.

That took the tally for the first five months of 2020 to 47.9 million mt, up 1.9% from the same period last year.

In May, imports from Guinea dropped 14.33% from April to 4.13 million mt, registering a year-over-year decline of 17.84%. That accounted for 43% of China’s total bauxite imports for the month.

Some refiners in Shanxi and Henan halted part of their capacity which uses imported bauxite as feedstock in April on cost concerns, which reduced purchases of low-temperature ore and led to the decline in imports from Guinea.

Australia and Indonesia remained the second and third biggest bauxite suppliers to China, taking up 34% and 19%, respectively, of the country’s total imports in May.

China’s bauxite imports from Australia increased 12.63% month on month and 25.85% year on year to 3.25 million mt, while those from Indonesia fell 9.76% month on month but jumped 77.67% year on year to 1.82 million mt.

On the other hand, prices of imported bauxite dipped last month as sea freight charges dropped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The average price of imported bauxite fell $1.57, or 3.3% from April to $46.54/mt in May.

CAPE-type sea freight charges from Guinea to China plunged to $9-11/mt in March to May, before rebounding to $20/mt in mid-June on a demand recovery.