China’s aluminium imports decline below 200,000 tonnes in March’22 due to overseas price surge

In March 2022, China’s aluminium imports slipped below 200,000 tonnes, decreasing by 4.6 per cent year-on-year, found the General Administration of Customs. As per the data shown, the country secured 197,134 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and products, including primary metal and unwrought & alloyed aluminium in March 2022 compared to 206,556 tonnes a year ago.

In the first quarter of 2022, China imported 533,136 tonnes of aluminium in total, which was down by 19 per cent on an annual basis, showed the customs data further. But in term of monetary value, the imports in March improved by 16 per cent year-on-year and that in Q1 rose 2.4 per cent, according to the official data.

The price surge of overseas aluminium exceeding China’s domestic prices is one of the primary reasons for the decrease in China’s imports, Shen Lingyan, an analyst with Antaike consultancy, explained, "Aluminium prices in overseas market are higher than China now, as some foreign producers had been cutting output since late 2021 amid higher energy prices."

On the other hand, China’s unwrought aluminium and aluminium products exports jumped 34 per cent month-on-month in March 2022 to stand at 594,361 tonnes.

Imports of bauxite also grew 16 per cent year-on-year to 11.7 million tonnes in March 2022. From January to March, China imported 32.67 million tonnes of bauxite, up by 20 per cent from the same period of 2021, showed customs data.