China April scrap aluminium imports fall after 25 per cent import tariff on US scrap

As reported by Reuters, China’s April scrap aluminium imports fell by 27.8% from March to 130,000 tonnes, after the country imposed 25% import tariff on aluminium scrap from the United States, its biggest scrap supplier, effective Apr. 2.
Data from the General Administrations of Customs showed April scrap aluminium imports also fell 23.1% year on year. For the period of Jan-April 2018, scrap aluminium imports were down 11.4% to 620,000 tonnes in comparison to the same period of 2017.

We can see in the below graph from Shanghai Metals Market that the prices of imported mixed aluminium scrap in China dropped to US$ 1500 per tonne on April 16 from US$ 1600 per tonne on April 13 2018. The prices continue to remain flat since, due to lower level of import. The country is now depending on domestically procured scrap and also looking at new regions for scrap import. 

As a part of China’s new policy on scrap imports or as a drive to check on “foreign garbage”, the country has specified strict purity standards on imported waste, including metals. This had a significant impact on drawing the imports to a lower level.

China’s total April scrap metal imports fell 35.9% year on year to 440,000 tonnes. For the period of Jan-April 2018, scrap metal imports were down 31% to 1.94 million tonnes in comparison to the same period of 2017.