GACC: China's Jan-Nov bauxite imports jump 29% YoY

In November alone, China's bauxite imports reached 15.11 million tonnes, rising by 22.9% from a year earlier and by 9.8% from October, the GACC data showed.

Guinea, the largest supplier of Chinese imported bauxite, shipped 10.71 million tonnes of the material to China last month, up by 34.7% from November 2024 and by 19% from the previous month.

The on-month increase in imports from the West African country was mainly associated with the easing impact of the rainy season from mid-September to mid-October, market analysts explained. During that period, some mines accelerated shipments of previously backlogged cargoes in a more centralized manner toward the end of the wet season, leading to higher bauxite arrivals in China last month, given the roughly 45-day shipping time from Guinea.

Looking ahead, China's bauxite imports from Guinea will likely rise further in the coming months, driven by an expected rise in ore production and shipments following the end of the wet season. In addition, some bauxite mines in Guinea are expected to resume operations in the near term, after one mining company received approval to restart production in mid-December, which should further boost supplies to China.

The anticipated increase in production and shipments is forecast to exert downward pressure on China's imported bauxite prices, market analysts added.

During the past month, Australia, the second-largest supplier of China's bauxite imports, delivered 3.41 million tonnes, down by 10.8% from October and by 2.7% from a year ago. China also imported about 990,000 tonnes of bauxite from non-mainstream suppliers the same month, mainly from Turkey, Sierra Leone and Brazil.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com