September 06-13
Iran has boosted its purchases of alumina from China and India over the past two months to shore up its supply in the wake of tightened US sanctions
As of July 1, new sanctions targeted raw and semi-processed materials that Iran buys.
China and India—along with others—have won waivers from US sanctions because they have cut imports of Iranian oil. To keep the exemptions, they are not supposed to be selling metal ores to Iran, but Reuters says they are doing just that..
China’s alumina exports to Iran jumped to record levels in June and July, customs data show, while India’s national aluminum producer has awarded an alumina tender to Iran’s national smelter in the past two months, company sources told the Reuters news agency.
“Iran has historically had a decent-sized aluminum industry. Given the savage squeeze in the international sanctions against it, clearly it’s easier for Iran to do these kinds of transactions with countries like China,” Nic Brown, a commodities analyst at Natixis in London, told Reuters.
Alumina is a refined version of the raw ore bauxite. It is typically used to make aluminum.