Two cons form a pro: Russia & China’s $612.1M aluminium trade is a shout-out for a win-win tale

Over the past few years, Russia has ramped up its aluminium exports to China and other Asian economies. According to the latest trade data by the Chinese Statistical Service, China imported USD 612.1 million worth of Russian aluminium in April 2025 alone, which accounts for close to double the figure recorded in April 2024. This surge has pushed Russia’s share into Chinese aluminium imports to 39.5 per cent, up significantly from 22.7 per cent a year earlier. Between January and April 2025, China purchased a total of USD 2.05 billion worth of aluminium from Russia, marking a 1.5× increase compared to the same period in 2024.

Image for representational purposes only

This spike is not just in monetary terms but also in physical volumes. In April 2025, China’s imports of primary aluminium from Russia reached approximately 228,600 tonnes, accounting for roughly 91 per cent of the country’s total primary aluminium imports for the month. Overall, China’s net primary aluminium imports stood at 236,800 tonnes in April, with a Y-o-Y growth of around 15 per cent. Notably, Russia had already become China’s top aluminium supplier in 2023, when it exported around USD 2.87 billion worth of the metal, representing about 23 per cent of China’s total aluminium import value.

The evolving trade dynamic is clearly reflected in earlier trends as well. In 2023, Russia’s aluminium exports to China had already shown sharp momentum, and by the first eight months of 2024, these exports reached USD 2.3 billion, which was roughly a 40 per cent increase from the same timeframe in 2023. Analysts now estimate that over 25 per cent of China’s aluminium imports were sourced from Russia by the end of 2024, up from just 12 per cent in 2021.

Sanctions on Russia: a context behind its pivot towards the East

The reasons for this dramatic pivot are both geopolitical and structural. With the US and UK implementing sweeping sanctions in April 2024, effectively banning imports of Russian-origin aluminium, copper, and nickel, Russia has been pushed to reorient its export strategy toward Asia. Simultaneously, China faces a 45 million tonne primary aluminium production cap which is nearing exhaustion.