Bauxite Mining Market in Europe to 2020 - Market Characterized by Increased Regional Demand

June 1, 2012 - PRLog -- Strong demand arising from the European aluminum industry is keeping the bauxite mining market in its key producing market Russia buoyant, despite the development of political and environmental regulations that may threaten industry investments, according to a new report by natural resources experts GBI research.

The new report* states that Russia’s state-regulated industries may mar the attraction of the country’s natural vast reserves of bauxite, which accounted for 1.4 million metric tons (MMt), or 70% of Europe’s regional reserves, and show long-term potential for mining activities.

Rising bauxite production is being driven by an increase in bauxite consumption, with that from Europe increasing by an estimated 3.7% in 2011 compared with the preceding year. Consumption demand is expected to remain buoyant in the foreseeable future, with the global demand for alumina and aluminum anticipated to increase by 4% annually, due to high rates of growth in the construction, transportation and manufacturing sectors.

Over 90% of bauxite produced in Russia is consumed domestically by its leading aluminum manufacturing company, RUSAL, whose advanced technology and use of advanced mining equipment and smelting technologies has led to its achievement of lower production costs.

For Sample Pages, please click or add the below link to your browser:
http://www.gbiresearch.com/RequestSamplePages.aspx?ID=Bau...

However, environmental issues may prove to be expensive obstacles for bauxite mining in Europe, as significant amounts of environmental pollution generated in the form of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), tetrafluoromethane (CF4), hexafluoroethane (C2F6) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), are released during production. Red mud expelled from mining operations is also dumped into the sea, damaging marine ecology.

Russia’s Subsoil Law has been an additional concern to many foreign companies investing in the region’s bauxite industry. Similarly to regulations in the nuclear and defense sectors, the countries’ subsoil law restricts investment in certain metals of strategic importance, such as bauxite. Article 9 of the subsoil law implies that areas of federal importance can be exploited only by Russian companies, which are state-controlled, while costs involved in prospecting and evaluating discovered deposits are partially funded by the government. This subsoil law restricts foreign companies from developing discovered deposits, and, although the law has been subjected to many revisions and alterations, it may still dissuade foreign mainlining companies from operating in the Russian bauxite industry.

On a global scale, Europe is only a modest producer and consumer of bauxite. The region’s bauxite production was an estimated at 7.6 MMt in 2011 and is forecast to grow marginally at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.5% to reach 8.7 MMt in 2020. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 2011, the region’s bauxite reserves totaled 2 billion metric tons, which is equivalent to 8% of the world’s bauxite reserves.

This report provides key information and analysis of the European bauxite mining industry, which consists of Russia and Greece. It covers the industry’s drivers and restraints, production, reserves and consumption, and provides details of each country’s bauxite trade statistics (imports and exports).

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in-house analysis by GBI Research’s team of industry experts.

GBI Research is a market-leading provider of business intelligence reports, offering actionable data and forecasts based on the insights of key industry leaders to ensure you stay up-to-date with the latest emerging trends in your markets.

For further details, please click or add the below link to your browser:
http://www.gbiresearch.com/Report.aspx?ID=Bauxite-Mining-...
Visit our report store: http://www.gbiresearch.com
For more details contact:
pressreleases@gbiresearch.com            
North America:                   +1 646 395 5477
Europe:        +44 207 753 4299
           +44 1204 543 533
Asia Pacific:       +91 40 6616 6782