China continues to rely heavily on imported bauxite, with imports set to reach a five-year high of 70 million tonnes this year, Pi Jianqing, deputy manager of the non-ferrous department of Hanzhou Jinjiang Group, said last week.
"China is expecting to import 70 million tonnes of bauxite in 2018. This [is the highest] since 2013, when the market stockpiled large quantities of bauxite on tightness concerns after the Indonesian government prohibited local companies from exporting [unprocessed ore]," Pi told Fastmarkets on the sidelines of Antaike's China International Aluminium conference on November 13-16. China imported 68.6 million tonnes of bauxite in 2017, with refineries favoring overseas material over domestic supply, which declined in grade quality and increased in cost in...