Indonesia Became the Largest Alumina Supplier to China in Nov, while Russia Remained the Major Destination of Alumina Exports

SHANGHAI, Dec 26 (SMM) - According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, China imported 196,000 mt of alumina in November 2022, a month-on-month decrease of 21.8%, and a year-on-year increase of 24.2%. At the same time, the exports of alumina stood at 85,000 mt, an increase of 45.6% on the month and 984.9% on the year. In particular, the exports to Russia rose by 54.6% MoM to 80,000 mt, accounting for 93.7% of the month's total exports. The cumulative alumina imports reached 1.87 million mt from January to November, a year-on-year decrease of 39.3%, and the cumulative export volume was 950,000 mt, a year-on-year increase of 719.5%. (Customs code: 28182000)

With regard to the import volume, the alumina import window remained closed in November. Although arbitrage traders were not stimulated to participate in trading, the CIF prices of imported alumina were only about 110 yuan/mt higher than domestic prices. Under the background of insufficient profits and domestic alumina surplus, Chinese enterprises still purchased imported alumina based on rigid demand. It is worth noting that Indonesia surpassed Australia for the first time and became the largest supplier of alumina to China, with its imports accounting for 45.98% of the total import volume. On the one hand, when there were import profits from buying alumina from Indonesia, the Chinese enterprises usually placed orders on rigid demand. On the other hand, the alumina plants in Indonesia invested by domestic enterprises were running smoothly, which led to increased alumina production capacity in Indonesia. Therefore, an increasing number of Chinese enterprises started to imported alumina that have been processed from bauxite.

In terms of exports, the exports of alumina stood at 85,000 mt, an increase of 45.6% on the month and 984.9% on the year. In particular, the exports to Russia rose by 54.6% MoM to 80,000 mt, accounting for 93.7% of the month's total exports. On the whole, the main destination of domestic alumina exports was still Russia. However, according to SMM, alumina plants in countries like Vietnam, India, and Malaysia were also actively seeking to export alumina to Russia. In order to reduce costs while enhancing efficiency, the Russian purchasers tended to buy alumina on dips, so the purchases of Chinese alumina dropped. It remains to be seen whether domestic alumina can maintain stable exports in the future.