KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Australia overtook Malaysia as China’s top supplier of bauxite in May after falling behind a month earlier.

China, the world’s biggest producer of aluminum extracted from bauxite, bought 1.61 million metric tonnes from Australia in May from 1.62 million tons a month earlier and 1.24 million tonnes last year, customs data show. Shipments from Malaysia fell 23 per cent from April to 1.58 million tonnes.

The world’s second-largest economy has sought alternative supplies after Indonesia halted shipments of raw ore including bauxite, nickel and copper, in January 2014 in a bid to spur domestic processing. China imported 3.83 million tonnes in May, less than half a record 8 million tonnes in January last year.

“Malaysia is capable to supply more” as there are new mines starting to produce, said Wan Ling, the assistant chief representative in China for researcher CRU. Shipments will probably expand to 12 million tons this year, she said June 19. Cargoes in May already jumped about 20-fold from a year earlier.

Production in Malaysia more than quadrupled to 962,799 tons in 2014 from 208,770 tons the year before, data from the Minerals and Geoscience Department in Kuala Lumpur show.

“Malaysia has emerged as a strong contender” to replace Indonesia, Morgan Stanley said in a June 22 report. The bank estimates China will need a total of 35 million tonnes in 2015. — Bloomberg