Japan Nonferrous Metal Import & Export Stay Low in June

Japanese nonferrous metals import represented year-to-year minus for all items of trade statistics by Ministry of Finance in June. Meanwhile, import volume showed month-to-month improvement for some items. Domestic demand for nonferrous metals seemed to recover partially.

Import volume of cathode copper, anode copper and copper scrap decreased year-to-year in June. Import volume didn’t increase yet though Japanese copper alloy fabricators’ operation gradually recovered.

Primary aluminium import approached 100,000 tonnes for the first time since January 2009. Inventory adjustment advanced at Japanese re-rollers and the demand was steady from cans and automotive parts, despite of continuous stagnancy in construction market.

As to Japanese export of nonferrous metals in June, the statistics showed year-to-year plus for cathode copper for 9 straight months. Cathode copper export for China was 31,789 tonnes in June, which expanded by 2.8 times from a year earlier.

On the other hand, copper scrap export represented year-to-year shrinkage for 2 months in a row. The export for China decreased by 24.9% to 23,195 tonnes. Aluminium scrap export was lower by 60% than the record in April 2009. The export for China shrank by 60% to 6,473 tonnes in June compared with April.