GACC: China's alumina exports surge 82% YoY in Sept

During this year's first nine months, China's alumina exports totalled 2 million tonnes, representing a jump of 61.8% from the January-September period of last year, the GACC data showed.  

Russia, South Korea, and Indonesia were the top three destinations for Chinese alumina in September, accounting for 93.9%, 1.8%, and 0.9% of total exports respectively, Mysteel Global noted.

During the month, shipments of alumina to Russia, China's largest overseas alumina buyer, surged to a new monthly record of 231,452 tonnes, up by 88% on year and by 51.3% on month.

On the import side, China brought in 59,982 tonnes of alumina in September, up by 61.7% from a year earlier but down by 36.4% from August, according to GACC. India, Vietnam, and Germany were the leading suppliers, shipping 52.8%, 38.3%, and 2.9% of total alumina imports, respectively. The GACC does not provide a breakdown of the types of alumina imported, Mysteel Global notes.

Notably, China's alumina imports from India jumped to 31,649 tonnes in September, compared with only 6.1 tonnes in the same month last year and 84.4 tonnes in August.

China's net alumina exports reached 186,438 tonnes last month, soaring by 90% on year and by 116.5% on month, Mysteel Global's calculation based on the GACC data showed.

Over this year's January-September period, China's total alumina imports amounted to 548,415 tonnes, representing a 57.8% decline compared with the corresponding nine months of last year.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com