★ Chinese origin bauxite remains tight and inland refineries speed up technology shift to use imported bauxite
China's alumina production capacity improves continuously and the demand for bauxite reaches a record high level while the Chinese origin bauxite supply fails to meet the demand. Refineries in Shanxi, Henan and Guangxi speed up technology shift to meet the imported bauxite request.
★ New alumina projects in coastal China grow quickly and the imported bauxite supply remains tight
New alumina projects in coastal China grow quickly and all use imported bauxite. Indonesian bauxite export ban continues, new bauxite projects in Guinea proceed slowly and Australian bauxite supply increases slowly. Although the bauxite development from alternative origins like Ghana, Seirra Leone and Turkey witnessed fast growth, the overall supply abroad remains unsatisfactory.
★ The hydro-power supply in Yunnan fails to meet the quickly growing demand from the aluminum capacity and part capacities would remove to northwest China; prebaked anode and aluminum fluoride supply structures face new challenges
The aluminum industry growth in Yunnan proceeds faster than expected while the hydro-power provision could not meet the demand, so part smelters plan to remove to northwest China like Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. The sufficient prebaked anode supply in southwest China faces difficulties and export sales need expansion. Meanwhile, the aluminum fluoride supply in China expands continuously but the domestic demand remains flat, so the export market share needs more efforts.
★ The construction alumina and aluminum projects in Indonesia speeds up
Indonesia maintains the bauxite export ban on the one hand and encourages aluminum processing investments on the other hand. China's alumina and aluminum investment projects in Indonesia speed up.
