Japan Cathode Copper Export to China Increases in August

Japanese cathode copper export for China was 19,339 tonnes in August, increasing by 10% from a year earlier, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The demand was strong when electrolytic copper market price decreased at London Metal Exchange while the market price surged at Shanghai Futures Exchange. Meanwhile, Japanese copper scrap export totaled 23,706 tonnes in August, increasing by 3% from a year earlier and decreasing by 9% from July. The demand was not strong due to a concern on market price down.

Aluminium scrap export totaled 9,069 tonnes, increasing by 31% from a year earlier. The export to South Korea expanded to 14 times at 1,692 tonnes from a year earlier while the export slowed down compared with 3,691 tonnes in June and 2,669 tonnes in July. The main reason seemed that aluminium scrap demand from domestic users recovered. The export to China represented steady at 5,438 tonnes.

Export increased by 12% to 3,191 tonnes for zinc ingot with 99.99% or more purity while increased by 34% to 4,655 tonnes for zinc ingot of less than 99.99% purity. Both items increased bound for Taiwan.