Global Bauxite Distribution and the Industrial Landscape of Primary & Secondary Aluminium | 世界铝土矿分布与全球铝产业格局

Markets & Resources · 上游资源 · Last reviewed: 2026-10-30

1. Mineralogy Determines Refining Cost

Bauxite is not a single mineral but a rock composed mainly of aluminium hydroxides, with silica, iron oxides and titania. Three aluminium-bearing minerals govern how it behaves in the Bayer process, and the differences are not marginal — they set the digestion temperature, and digestion is the most energy-intensive step in alumina refining.

Mineral	Formula	Digestion Condition	Occurrence
Gibbsite 三水铝石	Al2O3·3H2O	Dissolves readily at ≈140 °C; some sources cite 125–140 °C, others atmospheric digestion at 150 °C	Tropical laterite deposits — Australia, Guinea, Brazil. Accounts for the large majority of global resources
Boehmite 一水软铝石	Al2O3·H2O	Dissolves readily at ≈180 °C	Mediterranean and some Asian deposits; frequently intermixed with the other two
Diaspore 一水硬铝石	Al2O3·H2O	Requires above 240 °C, typically quoted 240–260 °C, with lime addition of roughly 3–7%	Dominant in China — reported as over 98% of Chinese reserves; karst-type deposits, lower alumina-to-silica ratio

Three consequences follow, and they explain much of the industry’s cost geography:

• Digestion energy dominates. The digestion step is reported to account for 45–50% of total energy consumption in alumina production. Mineralogy therefore drives a large share of refining cost.
• Route selection follows ore. Above 90% of global alumina is produced by the Bayer process. In China the figure is reported at around 50%, with the remainder by sintering or combined routes — a direct consequence of diaspore-dominant ore.
• Ore quality, not just quantity, defines reserve value. Chinese reserves are reported at roughly 40–75% Al₂O₃ with a low alumina-to-silica ratio, which is why reserve tonnage alone understates the difficulty.

A note on the grouping: boehmite and diaspore share a formula but not a digestion temperature. Treating them as a single “monohydrate” category with one temperature obscures the roughly 60 °C gap between them.

2. Reserves and Production

Reserves and production are concentrated in different places, and the gap between the two maps is what drives seaborne trade.

2.1 Reserves

Country	Reserves	Share	Note
Guinea	≈7.4 Gt	≈25%	High-grade gibbsite, shallow overburden, suited to open-pit
Australia	≈3.5 Gt	≈12%	High-grade gibbsit; Queensland and Western Australia
Vietnam	≈3.1 Gt	≈11%	Largely undeveloped relative to ranking
Indonesia	—	≈9.7%	Laterite type
Brazil	—	≈9.3%	Long-established supply to North America
China	≈0.68 Gt	≈2.3%	Diaspore-dominant; reported reserve-to-production ratio of about 7 years

Global reserves are reported at approximately 29 Gt with a static reserve life of about 65 years. Published totals vary — figures around 34 Gt also appear, depending on source and reporting year. Reserve estimates are revised annually; the country shares above are more stable than the absolute total.

2.2 Production

Country	Output (2024)	Share	Note
Guinea	≈130 Mt	≈29%	Became the largest producer in 2023, overtaking Australia
Australia	≈100 Mt	≈22%	Low operating cost
China	≈93 Mt	≈21%	Large output against a small reserve base

Global output is reported at approximately 450 Mt; the top three producers account for roughly 72%. Guinea’s own ministry reported 123 Mt for 2024, and 2025 forecasts were revised around 136 Mt — figures differ by source, so treat single-year output as a range rather than a point value.

3. Trade Flows and Concentration Risk

China is both a major producer and by far the largest importer, and its import structure is unusually concentrated. Chinese customs data for 2024:

Origin	Volume	Share	Change
Guinea	110.11 Mt	69.40%	Total imports 158.67 Mt, +12.34% year on year
Australia	39.88 Mt	25.14%
Two-country total	150.00 Mt	94.54%

A 94.54% two-country concentration is the structural fact of the seaborne bauxite market. It is the reason that policy changes in a single exporting country propagate through alumina and primary aluminium pricing globally.

Dated developments. Guinea’s exports were reported at 183 Mt for 2025, and measures affecting export volumes and mining titles were reported during 2026. Such events are tracked in News & Emerging Technology; this page retains only the structural point — that supply concentration, not geology, is the operative risk.

4. Customs Nomenclature

Trade is recorded under the Harmonized System, administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and applied by national customs authorities. The codes used throughout this site:

HS Code	Commodity	中文品名
2606.00	Bauxite, ores and concentrates (Guinea / Australia → China, Europe, Americas)	铝矿砂及其精矿
7601.10 / 7601.20	Unwrought aluminium — non-alloy / alloy (CBAM-covered)	未锻轧铝
7602.00	Aluminium waste and scrap	铝废碎料
2620.40	Slag, ash and residues containing mainly aluminium (incl. skimmings, aluminium ash) — the classification under which dross travels	主要含铝的矿渣、矿灰及残渣（含扒渣、铝灰）

HS 2620.40 is the one that matters most on this site. It is the code under which aluminium dross and ash move across borders — and, as documented in Insights & Trends, the code under which the same material may instead be classified as waste, or as hazardous waste, depending on jurisdiction and intent.

Full reference maintained at Resources & Data.

5. From Linear Model to Circular Pressure

The historic chain runs bauxite → alumina → primary aluminium → fabrication → scrap. Two forces are compressing it:

Metric	Value	Basis
Recycling energy requirement	≈5% of primary	European Aluminium Environmental Profile Report 2024
Primary aluminium carbon intensity	≈16 t CO2e / t	IAI / IEA cited figure for global primary production
Secondary aluminium carbon intensity	≈0.5 t CO2e / t	Commonly cited IAI figure; ≈95% reduction
All-aluminium emissions intensity	10.04 t CO2e / t (2023)	IAI — down 2.33% from 2022 and 11.5% since 2020
Total sector emissions	≈1,116 Mt CO2e (2023)	IAI — essentially flat while output rose to 111.2 Mt

The decoupling is real but partial: output grew while total emissions stayed flat, so intensity fell. Where primary production sits on the cost curve is largely a function of electricity mix, which is the subject of Hydro Power & Green Aluminium; the thermodynamic and energy basis of the primary/secondary difference is set out in Primary vs Secondary Aluminium.

6. Why This Reaches the Casthouse

The connection to the rest of this site is direct and physical, not editorial:

• Dross forms at every melting step — at the smelter, at the remelter, at the fabrication casthouse. Ore origin does not change that; reported generation is 1–8% of melt volume.
• What changes is the composition. Alloying elements, salt flux practice and furnace type determine whether the skimming is a white dross with high entrained metal or a salt-bearing black dross. This is the classification used throughout Technologies & Processes.
• The residue carries the regulatory burden. Where that residue is classed as hazardous — as under China’s HW48 codes — the downstream obligation, not the recovery yield, tends to determine the route.
• And the border charge now runs backwards through the chain. CBAM applies to unwrought aluminium under HS 7601, so carbon accounting reaches upstream into the ore and the electricity. See Carbon Footprint & CBAM Compliance.

Aluminium already in use is a substantial stock: of all aluminium ever produced, a large majority is reported to remain in service, with beverage can recycling reported around 69%. That stock — not the mine — is the feedstock the secondary industry draws on, and dross is what its furnaces produce.

Verification Status

• Traced — attributable to a published geological survey, customs dataset, association report or government source.
• Source-dependent — the underlying figure is revised periodically or reported differently by different bodies; given as an approximate value with the variance noted.
• Unverified — cannot be traced to a primary source; marked inline.

Reserve estimates, annual production and trade volumes are revised on published schedules. This page states the position as at the review date above and is updated when the underlying dataset changes.

---

中文摘要 · 世界铝土矿分布与全球铝产业格局

本文定位：全站的上游锚点。追踪铝矿石的来源、精炼路径与跨境流动——因为无论铝来自哪座矿山，每一吨被熔化的铝都会生成铝渣，本站其余内容正是从这里开始。

1. 矿物学决定精炼成本。三水铝石（Al₂O₃·3H₂O）约 140°C 即可顺利溶出（另有 125–140°C 或常压 150°C 的口径）；一水软铝石（Al₂O₃·H₂O）约 180°C；一水硬铝石（Al₂O₃·H₂O）需 240°C 以上，常引 240–260°C 并添加石灰约 3–7%。三点推论：溶出工序能耗占氧化铝生产全过程的 45–50%，故矿物学直接决定精炼成本的大头；全球 90% 以上氧化铝采用拜耳法，而中国约 50%（其余为烧结法或联合法），正是一水硬铝石为主的直接后果；中国铝土矿氧化铝含量约 40–75%、铝硅比低，故仅看储量吨位会低估难度。需特别注意：一水软铝石与一水硬铝石虽同式，但溶出温度相差约 60°C，合并为”一水型”并给单一温度会掩盖这一差距。

2. 储量与产量。储量：几内亚约 74 亿吨（25%）、澳大利亚约 35 亿吨（12%）、越南约 31 亿吨（11%）、印尼约 9.7%、巴西约 9.3%、中国约 6.8 亿吨（2.3%，储采比约 7 年）。全球储量报告约 290 亿吨，静态保障年限约 65 年；另有约 340 亿吨的口径——储量估计逐年修订，国别占比比绝对总量更稳定。产量（2024）：全球约 4.5 亿吨，几内亚约 1.3 亿吨（29%，2023 年已超越澳大利亚居首）、澳大利亚约 1 亿吨（22%）、中国约 9300 万吨（21%），前三国合计约 72%。几内亚本国部门报告 2024 年为 1.23 亿吨，2025 年预测约 1.36 亿吨——单年产量应视作区间而非点值。

3. 贸易流向与集中度风险。中国海关 2024 年数据：铝土矿进口 15866.74 万吨（同比 +12.34%），自几内亚 11011.33 万吨（69.40%）、澳大利亚 3988.46 万吨（25.14%），两国合计 94.54%。这一双国集中度是海运铝土矿市场的结构性事实，也正是单一出口国的政策变动会传导至全球氧化铝与原铝定价的原因。几内亚 2025 年出口量报道为 1.83 亿吨，2026 年有涉及出口量与矿权的措施报道——此类事件在「行业新闻与前沿技术」栏追踪，本页仅保留结构性结论：真正的风险是供应集中度，而非地质条件。

4. 海关编码。协调制度由世界海关组织（WCO）管理、各国海关实施（非世界贸易组织）。本站统一使用 HS 2606.00 铝矿砂及其精矿、HS 7601.10/20 未锻轧铝（CBAM 覆盖）、HS 7602.00 铝废碎料、HS 2620.40 主要含铝的矿渣矿灰及残渣（含扒渣、铝灰）。其中 2620.40 是本站最关切的一项——铝灰渣跨境流动正是归入此编码，而依不同法域与意图，同一物料也可能被归为废物或危险废物。

5. 从线性模式到循环压力。再生能耗约为原铝的 5%（欧洲铝协 2024）；原铝碳强度约 16 吨 CO₂e/吨，再生铝约 0.5 吨 CO₂e/吨（减排约 95%）；IAI 数据显示 2023 年含回收在内的全铝排放强度降至 10.04 吨 CO₂e/吨（较 2022 年降 2.33%、较 2020 年降 11.5%），总排放约 11.16 亿吨基本持平而产量增至 1.112 亿吨——脱钩真实存在但是局部的。原铝在成本曲线上的位置主要取决于电力结构。

6. 这一切如何传导到铸造车间。关联是物理的而非编排的：铝渣在每一个熔炼环节生成——电解铝厂、再生铝厂、加工车间皆然，报道的生成量为熔体体积的 1–8%，矿石来源不改变这一点；改变的是成分——合金元素、熔剂实践与炉型决定扒出的是高含金属的白渣还是含盐的黑渣；残渣承担监管义务，在中国 HW48 下，往往是下游义务而非回收率决定路线；而边境碳成本正沿链条向上游传导——CBAM 覆盖 HS 7601 未锻轧铝，碳核算因此回溯到矿石与电力。

核验状态分三级：可追溯（地质调查、海关数据集、协会报告或政府来源）、随源变动（底层数据定期修订、不同机构口径不一，给出近似值并注明差异）、未证实（无法追溯一手来源，随文标注）。储量、年产量与贸易量按公布日程修订，本页标注复核日期并在底层数据集变更时更新。