The rapid recovery of the global refractories market has led to renewed investment in refractory raw materials, with two non-metallurgical alumina producers announcing capacity expansions last month.
Bosai Minerals Group of Chongqing, China, is adding 70,000 tpa of brown fused alumina capacity to its Chinese operations in response to increased demand for abrasives and refractories.
The extra capacity will come from a 10,000 tpa upgrade to its 90,000 tpa Guangxi BFA plant, in addition to the acquisition of BFA producer Guizhou Kaifeng Mining LLC (see photo), which has a 60,000 tpa output.
Bosai told IM that the BFA business was core to its group, and that the Kaifeng plant acquisition was a “good opportunity” to increase Bosai’s market share. The two upgrades will increase Bosai’s BFA capacity to 230,000 tpa,...