June 2012 | Aluminium Weekly Market Tracker
Chinese alumina refineries to cut output: Alumina Analysis
Rio Tinto Alcan’s plans to expand its Weipa, Queensland mine has been given the green light by the state government of Queensland.
As a response to reduced availability of Indonesian bauxite China’s five largest alumina producers have announced they will reduce output by 10% from June. We understand that between January and March Indonesia supplied some 81.5% of China’s bauxite, up from 75% in 2011 as Chinese importers stockpiled material ahead of the Indonesian government tightening down on bauxite exports. Bauxite exports from Indonesia have not been banned though, only temporarily halted. Instead a 20% export tax has been put in place increasing the cost to Chinese consumers by some $6-8/tonne and exports will resume when tax collection processes are in place. Overall this means a curtailment of an estimated 3m tpy with Chalco taking the lead and...
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