Japanese Primary Aluminium Import Shows Y/Y Plus in December

Japanese import volume of primary aluminium ingot represented the first year-to-year plus since January 2009 in December, according to Ministry of Finance. Domestic re-rollers increased the ingot procurement when automobile and aluminium can demand has steadily increased.

Cathode copper import volume decreased in December from a year earlier while copper scrap import volume kept the high level. Cathode copper users decreased the procurement with fewer operation days at the yearend. Copper scrap import volume was pushed up by low scrap generation in Japan and strong yen exchange rate.

Electrolytic lead import represented below 1,000 tonnes for 11 straight months. Lead ingot demand was slow due to inactive demand for automotive batteries. Nickel ingot import kept above 2,000 tonnes for 5 straight months since stainless steel demand became relatively stable despite of the low level.

In December, Japanese aluminium scrap export expanded by double to 8,716 tonnes for China and by 5 times to 2,099 tonnes for South Korea compared with a year earlier. Copper scrap export exceeded 30,000 tonnes for the first time in 7 months, which increased by 25.3% to 31,165 tonnes for China. Meanwhile, cathode copper export represented year-to-year minus for 4 months in a row. The export for China declined by 42.6% to 10,861 tonnes.