China’s aluminium exports take a dip amid trade friction

China’s aluminium shipments declined in February, reflecting weaker overseas demand, increased trade frictions and slowing domestic production.

Exports of unwrought aluminium and products fell 26 per cent to 280,000 metric tons from the previous month, the smallest in two years, customs data show. The country’s total exports plunged 25.4 per cent in dollar terms from a year earlier, the most since May 2009.

A slowdown in global trade is making it harder for the country’s leaders to keep growth in the targeted 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent range. China, the largest producer of aluminium, has boosted exports as the weakest growth in a generation slowed demand at home. The surge in shipments has pushed down world prices and spawned trade tensions from the US to Europe and India.

“Economies are slow in major trading partners such as Japan and the Europe,” Wang Rong, an analyst with Guotai & Junan Futures Co. in Shanghai, said by phone. “The Lunar New Year holidays may also have impacted trading.” Chinese markets and many business were closed 8-12 February.

The drop in aluminium exports was due in part to smelter curtailments in late 2015, analysts at Citigroup Inc. including Tracy Liao said in a note.