Japan Cathode Copper Import Hit Record High Volume in May

Japanese cathode copper import expanded to 14 times at 33,737 tonnes in May from a year earlier and hit the record high since 1988, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. Japanese copper smelters and traders increased the import largely for 2 months in a row since domestic major copper smelters were downed by Japan Earthquake in March. The import of rectified zinc also expanded to 6.8 times at 11,562 tonnes in May from a year earlier while decreased largely from a month ago as rebound of the significant import in April.

The cathode copper import was 25,131 tonnes in April and hit the highest in 10 years. The import increased even more in May. The import accumulated 58,868 tonnes for April-May and exceeded the annual import at 45,404 tonnes in 2010. Domestic copper smelters and traders covered cathode copper shortage by the import since Onahama Smelting & Refining in Fukushima suspended operation. In May, the import was 19,620 tonnes from Chile and 7,054 tonnes from Australia.

The rectified zinc import hit 29,792 tonnes in April and exceeded the annual import volume in 2010. Thus the domestic supply and demand balance rapidly loosened. The import in May seemed to be the order backlogs of April. The import was 3,518 tonnes from India, 3,035 tonnes from South Korea and 2,624 tonnes from Australia.

The import of refined lead also expanded to 3.4 times at 1,889 tonnes in May from a year earlier while decreased largely from 3,031 tonnes in April.