Japan Nonferrous Metals Export Shows Significant Decline in April

Japanese cathode copper export decreased by 28.3% to 43,860 tonnes in April from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance. The export to the largest destination of China decreased by 39.9% to 22,684 tonnes when Chinese government tightens the money to slow down the heated economy.

Japanese copper scrap export decreased by 44.4% to 28,309 tonnes in April from a year earlier, which decreased for 3 months in a row. The export to China decreased by 42.1% to 25,919 tonnes while the export hit record in April 2009. The export to China showed slight month-to-month increase. The importers in China booked some quantity of the scrap due to the improvement in demurrage in the main bay of China since February.

The export of aluminium scrap decreased to 8,562 tonnes in April, about one third of the volume in April 2009. The export significantly decreased to China and South Korea when the importers in the countries were reluctant to purchase the high-priced Japanese scrap due to higher primary aluminium price and higher demand in Japan.

The export of zinc ingot with more than 99.99% purity decreased by 61.5% to 4,165 tonnes in April from a year earlier. The export was at high level to China in April 2009 when the inventory increased in Japan due to the plunge in the domestic demand.