Japan Buyers Restart Secondary Al Alloy, Base Metal Import

Japanese buyers restarted secondary aluminium alloy and base metal import from China and Russia for the firs time in a month. The buyers decided the import at relative lower price when international aluminum price decreases while Japanese alloy price increases.

Chinese major alloy makers including Shanghai Sigma Metals offer CIF US$ 1,880-1,890 per tonne to Japan for September shipment. The offer is around US$ 30 lower than the recent peak in mid-August when offshore aluminium market turned into decrease. Smaller Chinese makers also export the alloy at US$ 1,830-1,840, which decreased by around US$ 40-50 in 2 weeks.

The alloy import price drop is relative smaller than price drop for primary aluminium ingot due to price of mix metals and aluminium scrap keeps high level due to limited supply.

Japanese secondary aluminium alloy price increased to more than the import price from China when the domestic alloy increased every month by around 10 yen per kilogram for AD12.1 grade since April. The buyers including die-casting makers and automobile parts makers try to shift from high priced domestic metal to cheaper import.

Japanese import price of Russian AK5M2 grade base metal, which is raw material of secondary aluminium alloy, decreased by around US$ 90 to CIF US$ 1,650 per tonne for September shipment from peak in August. Japanese alloy makers restarted the import while the purchase volume is still around 70% of the normal level.