Aluminium: Stocks

Plenty of bauxite, with Guinea holding a quarter

What this tab covers How much is left and how much is held. For minerals and energy: reserves, current output, years of supply and recycling for the top five countries. For farm commodities: production, ending stocks and stocks-to-use for the top five producers (USDA, October 2026). It also covers inventories and stockpiles.

Top five countries: reserves, output and years of supply

Country	Reserves Mt bauxite	Current output Mt bauxite (mine, 2025e)	Years of supply	Recycling
Guinea	7,400	150	49	n/a
Australia	3,700	97	38	n/a
China	710	87	8	n/a
Brazil	1,700	33	52	n/a
India	650	25	26	n/a

USGS MCS 2026, Bauxite and Alumina (world bauxite production and reserves table). Years of supply = reserves ÷ current output; reserves grow as prices and technology change, so this is not a countdown.

Recycling

No official world recycling rate is published by USGS or in the EU study. The EU end-of-life recycling input rate is 32% (EU CRM study 2023). In the US, aluminium from old scrap equalled about 28% of apparent consumption in 2025, and 3.6 Mt was recovered from all scrap (USGS). World bauxite reserves were 29 billion t in 2025, with resources of 55-75 billion t.

Bauxite is abundant. USGS reserves are 29 billion tonnes, about 66 years of 2025 bauxite output, and resources are 55-75 billion tonnes. Guinea alone holds 7.4 billion tonnes of reserves. Clays and other rocks could yield alumina too, at higher cost. The metal in use forms a large urban mine: the EU end-of-life recycling input rate is 32%. US old scrap equalled about 28% of apparent consumption in 2025. Inventories sit with producers and in LME warehouses. Alumina itself stores badly, because it absorbs moisture from the air (Blas & Farchy).

Reserves

World reserves 29,000,000 thousand metric dry tons, bauxite (reserve life uses 2025e bauxite output of 440,000) Reserve life 66 years at 2025 production Guinea 26% Australia 13% Vietnam 11% Indonesia 10% Jamaica 7% Largest reserve holders, share of world reserves (USGS MCS 2026). Reserves are what is economic to extract today, not what exists.

Recycling

End-of-life recycling input rate in the EU: 32% of demand met from post-consumer scrap (EU CRM study 2023).

In 2025 the US recovered about 3.6 million tons of aluminium from scrap, 56% from new scrap and 44% from old scrap; old scrap equalled about 28% of apparent consumption.