China’s aluminium scrap imports extended M-o-M fall in October by 47%; US was the top exporter

China customs data found that the country’s aluminium scrap imports in October extended the month-on-month decline by 47.3 per cent to stand at 60,240 tonnes. In September, the import volume had fallen by 18.7 per cent from 141,000 tonnes in August to 114,300 tonnes, which indicates the fact that the monthly decline rate in China’s aluminium scrap imports rose in October.

On yearly basis China’s aluminium scrap imports in October dropped as well by 34.7 per cent from the same period last year, unlike September and August, when the imports had grown by 17.9 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively over the year.

The United States was the top exporter of aluminium scrap to China in October, followed by Malaysia. From the US, China imported 19,113 tonnes in October, down 31.2 per cent from a month ago and 27.9 per cent from a year; while that from Malaysia, the volume almost tripled from the corresponding month of 2018 but decreased 59.9 per cent from August 2019 to 5,860 tonnes.

Import quotas for metal scrap issued by Chinese authorities, on the other hand, declined sharply for the fourth quarter, as Beijing aimed to cut imports of “solid waste to zero” by the end of 2020. This, as a result, prompted Chinese secondary aluminium producers and processors to step up the purchase of seaborne unwrought aluminium alloys.