All posts tagged: Ukraine-Russia war

Alumina is a result of bauxite refining, and it’s consumed as the raw material for aluminum production. Alumina’s transportation cost is lower than bauxite transportation and has more economic efficiency, leading to the aluminum producer countries providing their requirement as the alumina and because of that this material is traded with a high volume in the world.

The presence of the biggest bauxite deposits in Brazil and Australia turned these two countries into the largest alumina exporters in the world. However, the import of alumina isn’t exclusive and many countries are its importer in the world, but the largest exporter destinations for it are Russia, Canada, and China. This coming year won’t be stunning for the global alumina trade because of the expensive energy in Europe due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, consequently the reduction in alumina production in the world and stopping the export of this material from Ukraine to Russia lead to the drop in its trade and makes an unclear future for this trade.

The war between Ukraine and Russia and the subsequent lack of natural gas supply in Europe caused a sharp growth in the price of energy carriers, thus, led to a global drop in alumina production, especially in Europe and South America. Under these circumstance, the market is expected to face risks in near future.

China is the largest producer and consumer of alumina in the world, and the smallest changes in the country will have a significant impact on the production and supply of global alumina. On this basis, there is a great reduction in global alumina production in February, because of Chinese New Year, which decreased around 1Mt in 2021.