Bauxite and Alumina

Details

• Personal Author:
  Sehnke ED
• Description:
  In 1992, the United States continued to depend on foreign sources of bauxite. Domestic bauxite mine production once again amounted to less than 1% of total world production. All of the nation's mine output was used for nonmetallurgical prducts such as abrasives, chemicals, proppants and refractories. Domestic production of bauxite for the year was projected to have been 9% less than that recorded in 1991. Most of this sluggishness was attributed to the general weakness in the US economy. Metallurgical-grade bauxite was imported from 11 countries in 1992. Principal suppliers forthis 10.8 Mt (12 million st) of ore were Jamaica (38%), Guinea (30%), Brazil (15%), Guyana (13%) and Australia (2%). The average value, delivered to US ports c.i.f. as reported to the US Customs Service, was $36.93/t ($40.70/st). Calcined refractory-grade bauxite imports totaled 238 kt (262,100 st) with an average value of $96.72/t ($106.61/ t) c.i.f. US ports. China supplied 73%, Guyana 23% and Brazil 4%. Imports of other grades of calcined bauxite, primarily for the abrasives market, totaled 198 kt (218,140 st). They were supplied by China (44%), Guyana (30%), Malaysia (16%) and India (6%). The average value was $68.50/t ($75.50/ st) c.i.f. US ports. Annual alumina production for the five Bayer process plants· operating in the United States last year was estimated at 5.2 Mt (5.8 million st), about the same as in 1991. Year-end 1992 alumina production capacity was about 5.67 Mt (6.25 million st), with a total capacity use rate of93%. Alumina imports in 1992, including 61 kt(67,780 st) of aluminum trihydrate (as calcined equivalent), totaled 4.7 Mt (5.2 million st), valued at $203/t ($223.76/st) c.i.f., US ports. The total amount imported last year was slightly above that recorded for the previous peak year of1988 and 2% higher than in 1991. Australia supplied 74%, Jamaica 11 % and Suriname 5% of this imported product. Alumina exports during 1992, including 31 kt (34,450 st) of aluminum trihydrate (as calcined equivalent), were 1.1 Mt (1.2 million st). Canada received about 64% of the shipments for the year. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Compounds Metals Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Aluminum-compounds Metal-compounds Metallic-compounds
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0026-5187
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  45
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10012120
• Citation:
  Min Eng 1993 Jun; 45(6):563-565
• CAS Registry Number:
  Alumina (CAS RN 1344-28-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Mining Engineering
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:209ddbea4cf36b2b9605e6b78f27c532594fa6ec5fbd54c819e35cac1f34aa5a8d423400f558db7ab9964de4dca08928bbcd5f081c5c270b6b09bb1218b846d1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220238/cdc_220238_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 567.82 KB ]