★ China’s dependency on imported bauxite grows continuously

Most new alumina projects from coastal regions of China rely on imported bauxite, while inland alumina refineries face both challenges of local bauxite shortage and high imported bauxite cost. On the other hand, Indonesia declared to ban bauxite export from June, 2023, while new projects from Guinea witness slow progress.

★ Coastal regions of China witness more new alumina projects

More and more new alumina projects from China choose to locate in coastal areas like Guangxi, while old alumina refineries from Shanxi and Henan cut production because of the increased cost.

★ Seasonal power shortage in southwest China challenges new aluminum smelters

For the quickly increased aluminum projects in southwest China, the hydro-power supply becomes short in dry season and new smelters face challenges of unstable production.

★ Aluminum fluoride producers in Europe suffer high energy cost and Chinese export prices become more competitive

Chinese aluminum fluoride export prices become more competitive than higher prices in Europe, where producers suffer high energy cost. Aluminum smelters increase the purchase volume from China.

At 5 pm of November, 14, the 12th Aluminum Raw Materials Summit closed successfully in Sanya, Hainan of China. The summit, organized by Asian Metal, secured sponsorship from Ghana Bauxite Company (GBC), Tianshan Aluminum Co., Xiamen Xiangyu Logistics Group Co., and Chongqing Bosai Minerals Group Co.

Despite the new wave of pandemic, delegates are active in attending the summit, with over 100 registrations, including bauxite suppliers from Guinea, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana and Brazil, accounting for 60%; Chinese alumina refineries, accounting for 30%; rest 10% from logistics, consulting and inspections etc.

At 9 am, the Summit opened up with the opening speech by Mr. Zhishuang Wu, Deputy General Manager of SPIC International Investment and Development (Guinea) Co. Meanwhile, Mr. Wu made a presentation on Guinean bauxite development and market outlook. By the presentation, Mr. Wu introduced the key preparing steps and legal documents of bauxite mining investment in Guinea; He talked about in details the hot topics of Guinean bauxite pricing and alumina refinery building in Guinea. Mr. Bingsong Cui, Deputy Marketing Director of SPIC International Investment and Development (Guinea) Co., delivered a market report on imported bauxite resources by introducing the Group’s consumption of bauxite from Indonesia, Australia and Guinea, etc. Ms. Virdiana Ririen Hapsari, Minister Counselor of Economic Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Beijing, PRC, made a brief introduction of Sino-Indonesia economy cooperations, Indonesian bauxite mining review, bauxite export policy and alumina refinery investment outlook. Mr. Hailong Zhou, Deputy Chairman of Xiamen Xiangsen Aluminum, together with Mr. Dan Liu, Deputy General Manager delivered a report on the application of Australian bauxite in Shanxi. Mr. Zhou analyzed the technology application of Australian bauxite in high temperature alumina production lines of Shanxi. Mr. Norman Ting, Asia Marketing General Manger of Metro Mining Ltd. introduced their latest bauxite mining operation and analyzed the special advantages of Australian bauxite in terms of sales price and logistics cost. Mr. Frederick Sarkodie Peprah, General Manager of Ghana Bauxite Company (GBC), make a brief introduction on Ghana bauxite history, production scales and loading capacity, etc. Mr. Marcio Lario, Marketing & Business Development Director of Bautek Minerals Industrials, delivered a report by focusing on Brazil calcined bauxite production, export and the demand outlook from China.

In the afternoon, Mr. Lu Jiang, Chief Researcher of China Futures Co., delivered a market report on the aluminum price forecast by analyzing major global economy entities growth, the aluminum production cut and demand in Europe, as well as the Chinese alumina production and the demand, etc. Mr. Aboubacar Kagbe Toure, General Manager of SOGUIPAMI Guinea, introduced the Guinean bauxite mining history and reserves details, listed major bauxite producers in Guinea and alumina refineries and stressed tax policies in terms of bauxite mining and export. Mr. Aichun Liu, Technical Counselor of Shanxi Dao’er Aluminum Co., reported the low-grade bauxite floatation status in China, listed major companies and explained the purification processing, equipment and applications. Mr. Lingju Huang, Marketing Deputy General Manager of Guangxi Tiandong Jinsheng Chemicals Co., delivered a speech on the caustic soda market in Guangxi, by analyzing the caustic soda production capacity in Guangxi and other regions, introducing the consumption structure and forecasting the new capacity in the coming few years. Finally in the schedule, Mr. Miles Prosser, Secretary General of International Aluminium Institute, made a video presentation on the topic of global aluminum supply chain and sustainability. He analyzed the present global aluminum demand structure and expressed his opinion on the forecast, stressing the impetus of aluminum on the sustainable growth.