Affected by the safety and environmental protection rectification policies of domestic bauxite mines, some bauxite mines in Shanxi and Henan are still in a state of shutdown, resulting in a tight supply of domestic ore for alumina factories in these regions. In recent years, it has been necessary to increase the use of imported ore. However, these factories are located in Central China, with their shipping costs hundreds of yuan higher than coastal alumina factories. Besides, given the concentrated production capacity layout of electrolytic aluminum in Southwest China, many new alumina projects are located in coastal cities such as Guangxi from a cost perspective. According to research statistics, 13.2 million tons of alumina projects will be implemented in Guangxi in the next two years.

Before the new project is implemented, the local chlor-alkali production capacity in Guangxi has been already in short supply. There are a total of 5 chlor-alkali plants in Guangxi, with a total caustic soda production capacity of 1.135 million tons per year. Among them, only Huayi, Liuhua, and Tiandong plants supply alumina factories, with a designed production capacity of 1 million tons. According to research, the actual supply to alumina factories is about 650,000 to 750,000 tons per year, and the remaining volume is for non-aluminum sales. The designed production capacity of Guangxi alumina factory is 17.35 million tons, and the operating capacity fluctuates around 16.35 million tons per year. Based on the average unit consumption of 80-90 kilograms/ton surveyed by Aladdin, the annual alkali consumption is expected to be between 1.308-14.715 million tons (dry-based), with an annual gap of 650,000 to 720,000 tons (dry-based). If the 220,000 tons (dry-based) of caustic soda that the two chlor-alkali plants in Yunnan can provide to Guangxi alumina factory every year are included, the annual caustic soda gap of Guangxi alumina factory is still as high as 430,000 to 500,000 tons (dry-based), equivalent to the monthly average gap of about 35,000 to 41,000 tons (dry-based). In addition, the annual alkali consumption of two large local new energy lithium battery industries in Guangxi is about 400,000 tons/year (dry-based).

In addition to local alkali factories in Guangxi, chlor-alkali factories such as Yibin Tianyuan, Xinjiang Zhongtai and Tianye also supply to the alumina factories in Guangxi. However, with the commissioning of the 13.2-million-ton alumina project in the future, the annual caustic soda consumption will increase to 1.188-132 million tons in the future based on the consumption of 90-100 kilograms of caustic soda per ton of alumina. According to research, the total production capacity of caustic soda projects planned to be put into operation in Guangxi in the next two years is 1.21 million tons, not all of which will be sold to alumina factories. Therefore, there will still be a significant shortage of alkali consumption in the alumina industry in Guangxi.

According to research, downstream factories for non-aluminum and aluminum use in Guangxi have sought external resources to supplement liquid alkali. For the chlor-alkali industry, as there will be fewer chlor-alkali factories in Southwest China in the future, it is of great significance to lay out sales channels in the region. At present, in addition to local supplies, caustic soda is sourced from Yunnan, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and Xinjiang (flakes) among other regions.