South Korea's alumina imports rise 6% YoY in 2025

Meanwhile, the value of the country's alumina imports reached $114.3 million during the year, rising by 7.7% on year.

China, Australia and Indonesia were the three largest suppliers of South Korea's imported alumina last year, accounting for 22%, 21.8% and 16.1% of the country's total imports respectively, Mysteel Global noted.

In 2025, China overtook Australia to become South Korea's largest overseas alumina supplier. Imported alumina shipments from China reached 21,818.8 tonnes last year, marking a sharp 93.5% increase from 2024, the KCS data showed.

However, the KCS figure was 9,358.8 tonnes lower than the total released by China's General Administration of Customs, which reported that China's alumina exports to South Korea surged by 237.9% on year to 31,177.6 tonnes in 2025, Mysteel Global noted.

By contrast, during last year South Korea's alumina imports from Australia totalled 21,640.7 tonnes, down 25.3% from the previous year. On the other hand, the volume of imported alumina from Indonesia reached 15,922.3 tonnes in 2025, soaring by 198.5% on year.

On the export side, South Korea shipped 38,195.7 tonnes of alumina abroad in 2025, up 2.8% from 2024. The country's net alumina imports stood at 60,957.6 tonnes for the year.

Japan remained the largest destination for South Korean alumina exports, taking more than half of the total shipments. Exports to Japan reached 20,645.6 tonnes in 2025, up 31.7% from the previous year, according to the KCS data.

South Korea has very limited alumina refining capacity and relies heavily on imports of alumina, market analysts said. There are only a few domestic producers manufacturing alumina, chiefly chemical grade mainly used in ceramics, refractory materials and semiconductors, Mysteel Global notes.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com