China’s aluminium scrap imports in the first two months of 2024 see an annual increase of 19%

According to China customs data, China's total aluminium scrap imports from January to February 2024 amounted to 289,000 tonnes, reflecting an annual hike of 19.2 per cent. In individual months, the imports stood at 171,000 tonnes and 118,000 tonnes, respectively, experiencing a significant rise of 68 per cent and a fall of 16.1 per cent annually.

Malaysia was the highest exporter of aluminium scrap to China, with 54,000 tonnes of volume, accounting for 18.7 per cent of the latter's total imports during January-February. Thailand was the second-highest exporter with 39,000 tonnes, accounting for 13.6 per cent, followed by Japan with the export volume of 30,000 tonnes, accounting for 10.4 per cent, and the UK and the US with a combined 46,200 tonnes, accounting for 16 per cent. 

Guangdong and Zhejiang were the primary receivers of the imported aluminium scrap in January-February. While the former imported 189,600 tonnes during the said period, accounting for 65.7 per cent of China's total imports, the latter imported 67,600 tonnes, which accounted for 23.4 per cent of the total imports.

Recently, China has emerged as a major hub of aluminium scrap processing, with annual imports at the forefront of the world. The increased imports of scrap into China, owing to insufficient domestic policies for the export/import of metal scrap, adversely affect the country's environment.

In 2017, China first introduced some relevant policies for solid waste imports, which changed the import rules and volumes. In December 2018, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the General Administration of Customs made some adjustments to the "Catalogue of Solid Wastes that Can Be Used as Raw Materials without Restrictions on Imports" and the "Catalogue of Solid Wastes that Can Be Used as Raw Materials with Restrictions on Imports". With the implementation of the policy – "Catalogue of Solid Wastes that Can Be Used as Raw Materials with Restrictions on Imports", China's aluminium scrap imports decreased to as low as 823,000 in 2020, the weakest of the past ten years.

In October 2022, China issued some modified regulations that allowed the imports of secondary casting aluminium alloy raw materials, promoting the standardised recycling of domestic high-quality secondary raw materials. Thus, some aluminium scraps with unclear classification and high impurities from the US and other regions faced difficulties entering China. The implementation of this policy, on the other hand, marked a turning point for the increase in imports from Southeast Asia. 

The European Union is also one of the vital sources of aluminium scrap for China. The total imports from the EU in 2023 were around 300,000 tonnes, accounting for 17 per cent of the total imports, overtaking Malaysia to rank first. At present, the Red Sea shipping crisis led to rising freight charges, but still the imports from the EU accounted for nearly 16.5 per cent of the total during January-February.

Received under the content exchange agreement with SMM