According to statistics, China exported a total of roughly 189,000 tons of alumina in May, of which around 153,000 tons were delivered to Russia. China has totally exported 288,000 tons of alumina to Russia in the first five months of this year, surging by 417 times year on year.
The significant increase in alumina exports to Russia was due to several international sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, which cut its original source of alumina and lead to a supply shortage in the country.
Since late March, China has become a net exporter of alumina. Market participants said that China will continue being a net alumina exporter until the end of this year owing to demand from Russia and China's own excess capacity.