Bauxite and alumina

Abstract

The United States is import-reliant for nearly all of the bauxite that it consumes. Small amounts of bauxite and bauxitic clays are produced in Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia for nonmetallurgical uses. Metallurgical-grade bauxite (crude dry) imports in 2011 totaled 9.54 Mt (10.5 million st), 18 percent more than the quantity imported in 2010. Jamaica (54 percent). Guinea (25 percent) and Brazil (18 percent) were the leading suppliers to the United States in 2011. In 2011,117 kt (129,000 st) of refractory-grade calcined bauxite was imported, a 69-percent decrease compared with imports in 2010. This decrease was partly attributed to an increase in net imports of refractory products such as bricks and crucibles, which were 39 percent higher than in the prior year. Imports of refractory-grade calcined bauxite from Brazil declined by 99 percent and by 75 percent from Greece. Restrictions on exports of raw materials from China also might have contributed a small amount to the decrease in imports. Imports from China declined by 45 percent. Guyana (42 percent), China (35 percent) and Greece (22 percent) were the leading sources of U.S. refractory-grade calcined bauxite imports. Imports of nonrefractory-grade calcined bauxite in 2011 totaled 236 kt (260,000 st), 23 percent less than the quantity imported in 2010. Guyana (51 percent), Australia (37 percent) and China (7 percent) were the leading sources