Aluminum Industry Annual Report 2018
2019-03-01 20:18:03 【Print】
The following is a brief synopsis of the report. Your access is restricted as it is a subscription based service.
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1 Market Highlights
Starting from the middle of 2018, Shanxi and Henan were faced with stricter inspections on environmental protection. Thus most bauxite producers suspended production, causing supply shortage in the market. As a result, prices for Chinese-origin bauxite rose significantly. In order to maintain production, some alumina plants began to use imported bauxite.
In 2018, the supply of bauxite from Guinea, Australia and Indonesia increased by a large amount with the operation of some new mines. However, the increasing supply didn't drive bauxite prices down. On the contrary, prices for imported bauxite moved up slightly in the third quarter supported by higher ocean freight and stronger demand from inland China.
Due to the tight supply of fluorspar and the unstable operating rate of aluminum fluoride plants, prices for Chinese aluminum fluoride showed an uptrend on the whole in 2018 and even reached a record high at the year's end.
Supported by production cost, alumina prices maintained the high levels in Chinese market in 2018. As the international market saw tight supply of alumina, China's exports of domestic alumina surpassed the imports for the first time in history. However, as China continued to enhance environmental protection, a few coastal alumina projects were called off, which slowed down pace of capacity expansion in China.
Starting from the middle of 2018, Shanxi and Henan were faced with stricter inspections on environmental protection. Thus most bauxite producers suspended production, causing supply shortage in the market. As a result, prices for Chinese-origin bauxite rose significantly. In order to maintain production, some alumina plants began to use imported bauxite.
In 2018, the supply of bauxite from Guinea, Australia and Indonesia increased by a large amount with the operation of some new mines. However, the increasing supply didn't drive bauxite prices down. On the contrary, prices for imported bauxite moved up slightly in the third quarter supported by higher ocean freight and stronger demand from inland China.
Due to the tight supply of fluorspar and the unstable operating rate of aluminum fluoride plants, prices for Chinese aluminum fluoride showed an uptrend on the whole in 2018 and even reached a record high at the year's end.
Supported by production cost, alumina prices maintained the high levels in Chinese market in 2018. As the international market saw tight supply of alumina, China's exports of domestic alumina surpassed the imports for the first time in history. However, as China continued to enhance environmental protection, a few coastal alumina projects were called off, which slowed down pace of capacity expansion in China.
