China March aluminium imports down 4.6% y/y amid high overseas prices

CHINA'S aluminium imports fell 4.6 per cent in March from the same month a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday (Apr 18), slipping below 200,000 tonnes amid fast-rising overseas prices.

The country brought in 197,134 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and products - including primary metal and unwrought, alloyed aluminium - last month, down from 206,556 tonnes in March 2021, according to the customs agency.

In the first quarter of the year, China imported 533,136 tonnes of the metal, plunging 19 per cent on an annual basis, customs data showed. But the value of aluminium imports in March and January-March rose 16 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively despite falling shipments by volume, according to the official data.

"Aluminium prices in overseas market are higher than China now, as some foreign producers had been cutting output since late 2021 amid higher energy prices," said Shen Lingyan, an analyst with Antaike consultancy, speaking before the data was released.

In comparison, China's unwrought aluminium and aluminium products exports jumped 34 per cent in March from the same month a year earlier to 594,361 tonnes, the customs data showed.

Its imports of bauxite, the main ore source of aluminium, came in at 11.7 million tonnes last month, an increase of 16 per cent year-on-year.

January-March bauxite imports were up 20 per cent from same period in 2021 to 32.67 million tonnes, customs said. REUTERS