Asian Metal News
Xinjiang Tianshan Aluminium Co. Ltd, a major aluminium smelter in northwestern China with 1.4 mtpy primary aluminium capacity, began transporting alumina from its Guangxi refinery to its Xinjiang primary aluminium smelter on 20th December.
Xinjiang Tianshan Aluminium has a 800 ktpy alumina refinery in Guangxi. The refinery came online in October 2019 and produced about 10 kt of alumina in November. According to an inside source, the company will load the alumina in Qinzhou Port Guangxi and ship it to Tianjin Port by sea before transporting by rail to Shihezi Xinjiang- which will take approximately a month. The total transportation cost (sea and rail) is estimated at RMB630/t, RMB100/t lower that the option of direct rail transportation from Guangxi to Xinjiang.
Tianshan Aluminium currently runs 1.2 mtpy capacity and is mainly getting alumina supply from northern China. Xinjiang Tianshan alumina refinery is set to expand its capacity to 2.4 mtpy by end-2020.
At present, mainstream alumina prices are standing at RMB 2,420~2,470/t ex-works in northern China, falling by RMB10/t from the beginning of this week.
