Japanese annual export of cathode copper decreased by 18% to 402,114 tonnes in CY2011 from CY2010, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The export decreased for several months after the Japan Earthquake since domestic major smelter and refinery were forced temporary suspensions, hit by the mega earthquake. Domestic smelters focused on copper supply to domestic users rather than export for a while. The export volume recovered after August.
Japanese annual export of copper scrap kept the almost same volume at 288,394 tonnes in CY2011 as the previous year. The export to China represented 261,890 tonnes, almost the same scale from a year earlier. Aluminium scrap export increased by 11% to 109,464 tonnes in CY2011 from CY2010. The export to China decreased by 7% to 68,699 tonnes while the export to South Korea expanded to 2.5 times at 22,158 tonnes. The export to South Korea was active mainly for used beverage can during several months after the Japan Earthquake, when domestic secondary aluminium alloy makers temporarily decreased aluminium scrap procurement.
