Inbound shipments of alumina to Guangdong in China totaled 488,000 tonnes during the first half of 2014, up 16.2% year-on-year, China Customs data showed.

Average price of the imported material, however, was 2,259 yuan ($366) per tonne, down 2.8% from a year earlier.

During the period, imports from Australia, the largest supplier, fell by 9% to 378,000 tonnes, while arrivals from India grew from 772.4 tonnes to 31,000 tonnes. Brazil and Venezuela were new suppliers of the province’s imports, according to the data.