China’s aluminium scrap imports in March climb 29.8% M-o-M

According to China customs data, China in March 2020 imported 77,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap, down 39.1 per cent year-on-year but up 29.8 per cent from February 2020. This brought China’s total aluminium scrap imports in the first three months of the year to 199,000 tonnes, down 40.1 per cent from the same period last year.

Most of the secondary aluminium producers resumed operations after March, which boosted demand for imported aluminium scrap. The general consumption of secondary aluminium within China and abroad has, however, dropped owing to slow global economic activities due to the outbreak of COVID19.

With more stringent movement restrictions outside China in mid-March, Chinese secondary aluminium producers reported a sharp decline in export orders.

As for unwrought aluminium alloy, China’s imports in March jumped 44.8 per cent from February to stand at 83,200 tonnes, thanks to the arrival of orders placed before the Lunar New Year holiday.

Malaysia and South Korea were the major unwrought aluminium alloy suppliers last month. In April, the imports of such material are expected to shrink significantly as the price gap between China and overseas narrowed. 

During January-March, China’s total imports of unwrought aluminium alloy stood at 202,100 tonnes, up 797.4 per cent from the corresponding period last year.

China’s unwrought aluminium alloy exports, on the other hand, increased 376.3 per cent month-on-month in March but fell 24.4 per cent over the year to stand at 37,600 tonnes.