Australian bauxite output, exports expected to rise in fiscal...

Australian bauxite output, exports expected to rise in fiscal 2016-17


Sydney (Platts)--10 Apr 2017 446 am EDT/846 GMT

Australia is expected to produce 82.7 million mt of bauxite in fiscal 2016-2017 (July-June), up 1.22% year on year, the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science said Friday.

From fiscal 2017-2018, growth in Australia's bauxite production is projected to pick up as new projects in the state of Queensland come online, it said.

The new projects include Metro Mining's Bauxite Hills project (5 million mt/year at full production) in the last quarter of fiscal 2017-2018, and Rio Tinto's Amrun project (23 million mt/year) in the third quarter of fiscal 2018-2019.

Australia's bauxite production is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 6% for the next three financial years to 98 million mt in fiscal 2019-2020, and remain at the level until fiscal 2021-2022, it added.

EXPORTS ESTIMATED AT 25 MILLION MT IN 2016-17

The country's bauxite exports for fiscal 2016-2017 are estimated to rise 19% year on year to 25 million mt due to lower domestic consumption and higher overseas demand, the DIIS said.

The volume is projected to increase at an average annual rate of 3.4% from fiscal 2017-2018 to 29 million mt in fiscal 2021-2022.

Despite increased production from the Bauxite Hills and Amrun projects in Queensland, exports are expected to grow at a relatively slow pace in the medium term.

The DIIS attributed this to higher production in Guinea, the easing of the ban on bauxite exports in Indonesia in January, and the likelihood of lifting the mining ban in Malaysia in the September quarter of 2017. In 2015, Malaysia exported 24 million mt of bauxite to China, replacing Indonesia as the principal supplier.

The resumption of Malaysian production is likely to increase the supply available to China and put further pressure on Australian exporters, the DIIS said.