Metallurgical-Grade Bauxite
Refinery feed by available alumina & reactive silica
Metallurgical-grade bauxite is bought by an alumina refinery, and a refinery does not pay for total Al₂O₃ — it pays for what the Bayer process can extract. That is why the contract leads with available alumina (typically 38–48% at the refinery's digestion temperature) and reactive silica (kaolinitic silica, typically 1.5–5%), because every point of reactive silica consumes caustic soda as desilication product and drags down yield. Gibbsitic ore (Guinea, Australia's Weipa and Gove, Ghana, Malaysia) digests at low temperature and is the easier feed; boehmitic ore (Australia's Darling Range and some Indian deposits) needs high-temperature digestion and only suits refineries built for it, so mineralogy is a compatibility question before it is a price question. Moisture (8–15% as shipped, higher in the West African wet season) is deadweight you pay freight on and a stevedoring problem on discharge, and Fe₂O₃ (10–25%) sets red-mud volume. On the trade itself, UN Comtrade 2025 export declarations show Australia at 44.23 million MT at USD 52/MT, 92% of it to China, then Ghana 2.23 million MT, Malaysia 1.80 million MT and Cote d'Ivoire 1.11 million MT at USD 37/MT; Guinea, the world's largest exporter, does not report to Comtrade, so its volume has to be read from the importer side.
Bauxite is a low-value, high-volume ore, which means freight is a larger share of the delivered price than for almost any other cargo we broker — a USD 52 FOB tonne can carry USD 15–25 of freight on a Capesize voyage from West Africa to China. That is why the buyer's questions are as much about the load port as the mine: Kamsar and Boke in Guinea are shallow, transhipment-based operations that price on Capesize economics only when the floating crane and barge chain is in place, while Weipa, Gove and Kuantan load direct. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers metallurgical-grade bauxite from Australian, Guinean, Ghanaian, Malaysian and Ivorian sources, connecting mine and trader allocations with alumina refineries against SGS or Bureau Veritas certification of available alumina, reactive silica, total SiO₂, Fe₂O₃, moisture and sizing on a dry-basis contract. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, quotes the Supramax to Capesize freight alongside the cargo, so a FOB offer can be turned into a delivered number on the same enquiry. Send your refinery's digestion temperature, reactive-silica ceiling and discharge-port draft and we will work the origin to it.
Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices bulk ore freight on LaycanDesk.
Indicative reference
$50–75 USD / MT
as at September 2026
Reference level only — not an offer, and reviewed quarterly. Levels shown are as at September 2026. Firm pricing is quoted per RFQ, subject to volume, terms and inspection.
Typical Specification
Specifications are indicative and adjusted to the agreed contract and destination requirements. Final spec confirmed on COA / SGS.
Available Grades
Applications
- Bayer-process alumina refining
- Non-metallurgical: refractory & abrasive grade
- Cement clinker alumina correction
- Steel slag conditioning
- Proppants & aluminium chemicals
Category
Metals & Recycled Scrap
Incoterms
FOB · CFR · CIF
Pricing basis
USD / MT
Inspection
SGS / Intertek at load port
Metallurgical-Grade Bauxite — buyer questions
Why do refineries specify available alumina rather than total Al₂O₃?
Because only the alumina the Bayer circuit can dissolve at its digestion temperature earns money. A boehmitic ore can show 48% total Al₂O₃ but yield only 40% available at a low-temperature refinery, while a gibbsitic ore at 44% total might give 42% available. The dry-basis contract therefore prices on available alumina at a stated temperature, with a reactive-silica penalty, and the SGS or Bureau Veritas certificate is drawn on that basis. Tell us your digestion temperature with the enquiry and we filter origins on mineralogy before price.
What does reactive silica actually cost me?
Caustic soda and yield. Each tonne of reactive silica in the feed consumes roughly a tonne of caustic as desilication product and takes alumina with it into the red mud. That is why a 5% reactive-silica ore at a low FOB price can be dearer per tonne of alumina produced than a 2% ore at a higher price. Most contracts carry a penalty per point above a ceiling; we will structure supply against your ceiling rather than a generic sheet.
How large are the parcels and which vessels?
Supramax to Capesize. Australian and Malaysian loaders ship 55,000–180,000 MT direct alongside; Guinean cargoes are transhipped from barges to Capesize at anchorage and price accordingly. Because bauxite is worth around USD 50 FOB, freight can be a third of the delivered cost, so our chartering desk quotes the voyage alongside the cargo and you see FOB and CFR on one enquiry.
What moisture should I expect and does it matter?
It matters twice. Moisture of 8–15% is weight you pay freight on and it is deducted at the certificate, so the contract is on a dry basis. It also matters for cargo safety: bauxite fines can behave like a Group A cargo under the IMSBC Code, and a shipper must provide a transportable-moisture-limit certificate before a vessel loads. West African wet-season lots run wetter; we ask for the TML and moisture history before quoting.
Ready to source Bauxite?
Send your quantity, specification, preferred Incoterms and destination port. We'll verify supply and respond with a workable offer — usually within one business day.
Have Bauxite to sell? Submit an offer — we'll match it against live buyer demand.
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