China’s unwrought aluminium and semis exports up 18% to reach another high

According to China Customs data, China's export of unwrought aluminium and aluminium semis in July rose 18% from a year ago to stand at 519,000 tonnes. The volume stood at 425,580 tonnes in July 2017.

The export volume stood at 510,000 tonnes in June, which was the second largest export in Chinese trading history of aluminium, just below the record of 540,000 tonnes in December 2014. This has made July export the second highest till date.

Even though the SHFE/LME aluminium price ratio rebounded, depreciating yuan still created robust export margins which boosted export to a significant number. 

Total exports for the first seven months of this year grew 12.3% on the year and registered at 3.23 million tonnes. The data indicates that despite the US tariffs on steel and aluminium, china continued to export aluminium and semis globally through July 2018.

It is to be noted that production of primary aluminium also grew in China in July marking the first YoY growth of 0.2 per cent in 2018 and stood at 3.13 million tonnes. In the first seven months of the year, the total output stood at 20.94 million tonnes, down 2.2 per cent from a year ago.