Nov. 15, 2025 - North China's Shanxi Province, a major mineral hub, has initiated ownership registration for 114 natural resource units to clarify property rights and strengthen conservation, the provincial Department of Natural Resources announced recently. The move covers diverse mineral resources including iron ore, coal, gold, copper, and bauxite across multiple regions, with particular implications for the province's strategically important bauxite sector.

Among the registered units, five are dedicated to bauxite, a critical raw material for metallurgy and refractory materials - spanning an estimated reserve area of 1,733.34 hectares. This focus aligns with Shanxi's status as China's top bauxite holder, accounting for over 40% of the nation's proven reserves . The province further solidified its market presence in 2025, with nine bauxite exploration and mining rights fetching a combined 23.036 billion yuan ($3.18 billion) in auctions. Additionally, 22 geological survey projects were added to the provincial reserve pool on October 16, promising enhanced technical support for future development .

Despite its resource endowment, Shanxi's bauxite production declined 20.56% year-on-year in October to 1.0819 million tons, contributing to tight supplies in northern China— particularly in Yuncheng, where output has yet to recover, according to industry data. This slump mirrored broader northern China trends: Henan Province also saw an 11.8% production drop. In contrast, southern regions buoyed national output: Guizhou's production surged 20.29% to 1.0936 million tons, while Guangxi grew 3.27% to 1.0819 million tons.

Nationally, bauxite output reached 50.5155 million tons in the first 10 months, up 5.2% year-on-year, but October's 4.7723 million tons marked a 2.2% month-on-month decrease and 6.9% year-on-year fall. However, abundant imports have offset domestic shortages: China imported 157.3053 million tons of bauxite in January-September 2025, a 38.13 million-ton increase (32.0%) from 119.178 million tons in the same period last year .

Guinea dominated China's import sources with 12.5935 million tons, followed by Australia (2.9224 million tons) and Türkiye (259,000 tons), data showed.