Guangxi May Become the Domestic Low Cost Alumina Base

Bauxite belongs to Karst-accumulation bauxite orebody in Guangxi, which is rich in natural resources reserves, mainly distributed in Baise, Chongzuo, Nanning and other regions, taking hard diaspore and small amounts of gibbsite as the principal things. It has high al-si ratio, low alkali consumption, high dissolution rate, etc.

According to the research, some local alumina suppliers have their own mines, and their holding resources are more than 100 million tons, and some companies even up to 200 million tons. Enterprises are given priority to self-mining ore, and some have a small amount of outsourcing ore.

Bauxite resources in Guangxi have relatively shallow burial depth and low mining cost, but because most of crude ores have more silt content, it is necessary for ore washing and processing. General enterprises use washing or mechanical joint for ore washing, and crushing, transportation costs, so the mining cost of enterprises is basically controlled within 170 RMB/ton. The grade of bauxite and cost advantage are obvious compared to other domestic regions.

In addition, we also learn that the local part of the outsourcing ore grade is concentrated in the 50-57%, and the alumina-silica ratio at 7-8, about 130-150 RMB/tons.

According to the data, the design capacity of alumina in Guangxi is 8.4 million tons, whose currently operating capacity is running close to 7.4 million tons. Most companies are in a high efficiency in production, especially Huayin aluminum industry in Guangxi, whose original design production capacity of 2 million tons has been close to 2.2 million tons, and their production capacity has obtained substantive breakthrough.

And Chinalco, relying on high-quality mining resources in Guangxi, improves the development technology, scale, high efficiency and stable production technology, and has become the lowest production cost alumina base of domestic alumina enterprises in Guangxi and even the whole country, and also has profit even after domestic alumina prices below their record lows last year.

Therefore, the advantages of bauxite resources in Guangxi are obvious, and alumina production costs are generally lower. It has become a domestic low-cost alumina production base, but because the downstream consumption is limited, and the outward transport cost is on the high side, alumina industry is still limited by certain factors.

At present, regional power grid is under construction, which is expected to solve the cost of electricity for some local electrolysis plants, and conducive to the development of the local downstream aluminum industry. We believe that with the advancement of the reform of the national electric power policy, the alumina industry chain advantages in Guangxi will continue to emerge, even more and more obvious.