Factors including an improving oil price and increased demand will support a recovery in the cif China bauxite price in the second half of this year but market participants should keep a close eye on the effect of a weakening domestic alumina price, Fastmarkets aluminium analyst Yang Cao said on Monday September 21.
"In the first half of 2020, the price of Chinese imported bauxite was quite low as the freight rate was dragged down by the plunging oil price. In the second half of the year, we expect the freight rate to increase on the back of recovering oil prices and therefore the cif price for Chinese bauxite should also increase," Cao said on the topic of Chinese refinery growth and domestic outlook during Fastmarkets' International Aluminium Conference.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment of the bauxite, fob Kamsar, Guinea price stood at $34 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on September 17, unchanged from the month prior. The price was at $36 per tonne on January 16, while the year...