China’s unwrought aluminium and aluminium product exports up 13% YoY in May

Despite rising trade tensions with the United States, aluminium exports in China increased to its highest in almost 3-1/2 years in May, Reuters reported. China exported 485,000 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products last month, the highest since December 2014, the General Administration of Customs said.

Unwrought aluminium and aluminium product exports were up 7.5 percent from 451,000 tonnes in April and up 12.8 percent from 430,000 tonnes in May 2017.

Paul Adkins, Managing Director of consultancy AZ China, said, the country’s  aluminium exports were holding up “against the odds,” amid the U.S. import tariff on Chinese products.

The United States imposed a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imports, effective from March 23 as U.S. President Donald Trump sought to protect domestic producers. The United States accounts for 14 percent of China's total aluminium exports. 

The increase was due to higher aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange after US imposed sanctions on Rusal, the world’s second-biggest aluminium producer.

 “You had the bounce with the Rusal sanctions and the metal price getting up to $2,700 [a ton], so there was always that opportunity,” to export, he said. “It also comes at a time when they can’t export foil and the 10 percent tariffs.”

Separately, China’s aluminium production declined 3.2 per cent on the year to 3.07 million tonnes in May, as seen by Shanghai Metals Market. Total aluminium production stood at 14.79 million tonnes in the first five months of 2018, down 2.7 per cent on the year.