Japan Nonferrous Metals Import Stagnant, Export Active in March

Japanese import of cathode copper increased by 42% to 2,070 tonnes in March from a year earlier, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. Anode copper import was zero in March, which is used as an alternative material for copper ore. There was no anode copper import for the last time in February 2007. Copper scrap import represented 67% year-on-year decrease in March. Domestic demand for nonferrous metals maintained weak under economy recession.

Primary aluminium import decreased by 41% to 90,428 tonnes in March from a year earlier, which declined below 100,000 tonnes for 2 months in a row. Aluminium alloy import decreased by 74% to 25,490 tonnes with low demand from automobiles.

Electrolytic lead import showed 32% year-on-year decrease in March with stagnant demand from automotive batteries. Import of electrolytic zinc decreased by more than 80% year-on-year due to low demand for zinc coated steel sheet from automobiles and constructions.

On the contrary, Japanese cathode copper export expanded by 1.7 times to 67,636 tonnes in March from a year earlier, which showed year-on-year increase for 6 straight months, according to Ministry of Finance. Cathode copper export for China jumped by 1.7 times to 44,066 tonnes when copper price was cheaper at London Metal Exchange than at Shanghai Futures Exchange and infrastructure concerned demand rose up in China.

Aluminium scrap export also expanded by 2.4 times to 22,116 tonnes, which hit record 15,466 tonnes for China and record 2,020 tonnes for South Korea.