Top ten countries with the highest bauxite production in 2021

The principal raw material used in the production of aluminium is bauxite and it is used for both metal supply and non-metallurgical needs. As residually enriched rocks, bauxites are composed primarily of Al-hydroxides (gibbsite, boehmite, and diaspore), kaolinite, Fe-oxy-hydroxides, and Ti-oxides, which are produced by the lateritic weathering of aluminosilicate protoliths. Humid, tropical, and subtropical climates are generally conducive to lateritic weathering and bauxite formation.

In addition to its multipurpose uses in metallurgy and chemical industries, bauxite is also used as a raw material in building and road construction. Aluminium is made only from bauxite, the best and only material. There are many uses for bauxite, including the chemical industry, refractory bricks, abrasives, cement, steel, and petroleum, while Lateritic bauxite is frequently used in construction. Calcined bauxite, made by sintering high-alumina in rotary, round or shaft kilns at high temperature, is used for anti-skid road aggregates, which are utilized in certain areas to prevent traffic accidents.

The sixth-largest country in the world, Australia ranks as the world's biggest producer of bauxite, with production amounting to approximately 110 million tonnes in 2021, China stands at number two with 86 million tonnes and Guinea holds the third position in the world bauxite ranking for bauxite production.

Top Bauxite producing nations worldwide

AUSTRALIA

Australia's bauxite mining industry has economic significance for both its economy and the world's economy.  In this industry, bauxite is the primary raw material for alumina and aluminium. Australia regains its number one position again in 2021, as the world's largest producer of bauxite, producing 110 million tonnes, which is almost near to a third of global bauxite.

The bauxite sector of Australia has well maintained steady output growth, supported by a solid project pipeline. The country has been mining bauxite since the early days of the 1960s and is a major economic player in the global bauxite mining industry. Furthermore, Australia is also the biggest exporter and second highest producer of alumina worldwide, while China dominates Australia’s bauxite ore export.

Australia follows bauxite mining with an open-cut process, as it is highly suited to the shallow bauxite deposits located mostly in Western Australia and Queensland. The country is the second prominent exporter of bauxite and exported about 37.8 million tonnes in 2021.

CHINA

The country that remains poised to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest economy, China has an abundant quantity of bauxite resources. It has the largest reserves of diaspore-type bauxite in the world with only a very small proportion of gibbsitic ores. The bauxite reserves in China, ranging in age from Late Paleozoic to Cenozoic, are distributed mainly in Shanxi, Shandong Henan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan.

China’s domestic bauxite production ranked second in 2021 with 86 million tonnes of output, keeping Guinea behind again. The African nation took over China in 2020 ranking number two.

China records as both the largest producer and consumer of aluminium, while the country remains the leading importer of bauxite. China imported about 110 million tonnes in 2021. Guinea and Australia are the two major exporters of bauxite to China, followed by Indonesia. However, Guinea has overtaken Australia as China’s largest supplier of bauxite, accounting for 52% of China’s total bauxite imports in 2021, whereas, Australia and Indonesia accounted for 31% and 15% respectively of the imports during 2021. The Chinese bauxite imports are likely to attain 130 million tonnes by 2022.

GUINEA

The West African nation, Guinea has the world’s largest reserves of bauxite with 7.4 billion tonnes and replaced China as the second-largest producer of bauxite after Australia in 2020, but in 2021 it slipped to the third position with bauxite production of 85 million, just a few numbers less from China’s domestic bauxite production.

Guinea ranks as the largest exporter of bauxite in the world. The country witnessed a political upheaval in September 2021 which affected the bauxite production.

Guinea is expected to witness increased export opportunities for bauxite in the long term. Indonesia’s decision to stop exporting raw minerals from 2022 will also influence Guinea’s export of bauxite. Moving forward, with China’s domestic bauxite supply descending in quality, and resource nationalism in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia preventing more obvious sources, the matter became of key interest for China – and an opportunity for Guinea.

The military junta have changed their stances toward multinationals, by demanding they want the mineral-rich nation to inflate its earnings from its mineral resources. A few days back, the government ordered mining companies to come up with proposals and a timetable by May for the construction of alumina refineries, which would process the locally mined bauxite to alumina within Guinea.

Colonel Doumbouya, Guinea’s coup leader said, “Despite the mining boom in the bauxite sector, we have to admit that the expected revenues are below expectations, and you and we cannot continue this game of fools that perpetuates great inequality in our relations.”

BRAZIL

The largest country in South America and Latin America, Brazil has 2.6 billion tonnes of bauxite reserves and is currently the 4th leading producer in the world with an estimated production of 36 million tonnes in 2021.

Brazil ranks as one of the many countries in the world that produce a substantial amount of minerals. The mining sector of the country contributes almost 7% of its GDP. However, with rich mineral resources, Brazil is a leading mineral exporter in the world.

The Brazilian state of Para is the largest producer of bauxite in the country with around 93%-95% of the total bauxite produced. The Hydro Alunorte alumina refinery receives bauxite from two sources. The first supplier, Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN), is located in Oriximiná, west of Pará. Hydro Alunorte has also been supplied from a mine located close to the city of Paragominas, in Pará since 2007, from where the bauxite is pumped through a 244-kilometre long pipeline.

INDIA

In 2021, India’s bauxite production stood at 23 million tonnes and this is likely to increase in the coming years. However, the industry has several challenges to contend with and strict environmental regulations are one of them. The Government has amended the mineral auction rules to remove end-use restrictions on mines to be allocated in future through a competitive bidding route to attract private participation.

The Indian state Odisha is the largest bauxite producing state in the country which almost produces more than half of the country's total production. Panchpatmali deposits in the Koraput district are the most valuable bauxite deposits in the state.

The other Indian states producing bauxite are Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. The Indian bauxite reserves and industrial infrastructure to manufacture Aluminium and its products have well-positioned the nation to become a vital source of metal for the world.

As of now, India is yet to grasp its noteworthy bauxite deposits effectively for its economic and social advancement. With aluminium demand expected to double in the next five years, India can beneficially suffuse the demand gap by exploiting its large reserves of bauxite for the production of aluminium.

INDONESIA

The Southeast Asian nation, Indonesia continues to be one of the leading exporters of bauxite and the country exported about 13.8 million tonnes of bauxite during the January-October period in 2021 - a decrease of 16% compared to the first ten months period in 2020. However, the country produced 18 million tonnes of bauxite in 2021.

The bauxite exports of Indonesia are likely to decrease further due to the government's plans to re-introduce the ban on the export of all minerals including bauxite from 2022 to increase the investments in downstream sectors and aid exports of higher value semi-finished or finished products. This ban will not have an impact on China’s alumina supply, as the country has its investments in alumina refineries in Indonesia.

The Indonesian reserves of bauxite ore are majorly located in the Riau Islands (namely Bintan), the Bangka Belitung Islands, and West Kalimantan and the reserves are in form of laterite ores.

Russia

Russia ranked as the 7^th largest producer of bauxite with 6.2 million productions in 2021. Most of the country's bauxite is produced from the Northern Urals, which produces more than 80% of Russia's total. The Urals are said to contain nearly 30% of Russia's explored bauxite reserves.

The Russian aluminium giant mostly imports processed bauxite in the formed alumina to cater for its aluminium smelter. However, the company has bauxite mining projects in Guinea and Jamaica with alumina refinery and also used to intake bauxite from Australia and held a stake in alumina refinery business but presently countering a ban from the Australian govt.

Rusal is one of the largest aluminium producers outside China, accounting for around 6% of global supplies, estimated by analysts to be 70 million tonnes in 2022 (Pre-Ukraine war).

JAMAICA

It is said that one of the most significant developments in the Caribbean region has been the establishment of bauxite mining in Jamaica. The mining of bauxite in Jamaica occurs primarily in the parishes of St. Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon, St. Ann and St. Catherine.

Jamaica produced around 5.8 million tonnes of bauxite in 2021. Following, the mining of bauxite most of it is refined to alumina and the rest is exported. Russia’s Rusal and New Day Aluminium from the Unites States grab the major stake in the Jamaican bauxite mining sector.

KAZAKHSTAN

The Central Asian country and former Soviet republic, Kazakhstan has been reported of producing 5.2 million tonnes of bauxite in 2021ranking at number nine in global bauxite production. The Kazakhstan bauxite mining operations consist of the mines of the Krasno-Oktyabrskoye Group (KBRU) and the Turgay Group (TBRU). The former is situated in the Kostanai region while the latter is located in Amangeldi. In 1962, the mines were commissioned to serve the internal demand of the state's aluminium industry.

SAUDI ARABIA

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia manifests that the non-oil mining industry is the “third pillar” of the Saudi economy. As of now, the Kingdom has been identified with over 48 minerals, with at least 15 industrial minerals that could become highly commercially viable. The central and northern parts of the country contain large amounts of bauxite.

Ranking at number 10 with 4.3 million tonnes of bauxite production in 2021, Saudi Arabia enters the list of top ten bauxite producing nations globally.

Conclusion

The global bauxite market will witness an increase in supply, as mines in Guinea and Australia are ramping up capacities and steadily increasing their share of bauxite exports to China. Guinea and Australia will continue to be the leading suppliers of bauxite and will drive the growth of the global bauxite market.

Global bauxite prices will continue to be impacted based on the level of imports into China, the political situation in Guinea and supply chain bottlenecks. China’s new alumina refineries will benefit from the cheap bauxite imports from Guinea, and Indonesia, the country has invested in an alumina refinery plant, hence will not be affected by Indonesia’s export ban on minerals in 2022. China will continue to rely on global bauxite suppliers for its domestic requirements.