China's imports of bauxite, the main ore source of aluminium and which has to be first refined into alumina, rose to a record high in the March quarter, due to greater demand and lower sea freight costs.

China’s imports of copper ore and concentrate increased about 14% to 2.03 million mt in April from a month earlier, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs released on Thursday.

China’s imports of aluminium scrap expanded in March, as secondary aluminium producers in the country rushed to fulfill backlogged orders after suspending production for more than a month due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Data from China customs showed that China imported 77,000 mt of aluminium scrap last month, down 39.1% from March 2019. That brought total imports in the first three months of 2020 to 199,000 mt, down 40.1% from the same period last year.

Last year, the Republic of Guinea, Australia, and Indonesia remained the top three bauxite exporters to China, with their combined volume accounting for over 94% of the China’s total bauxite imports

China imported 4.32 million mt of nickel ore and concentrate last month, down 27.91% from November

Net imports of alumina amounted to 1.01 million mt in the first eleven months of the year

For the first 11 months of 2019, the exports amounted to 5.25 million mt, down 0.3% from the same period last year

China imported 6.85 million mt of nickel ore in Oct, down 23.2% from an all-time high of 8.92 million mt in Sep

China’s imports of aluminium scrap plunged 47.3% from the previous month to 60,240 mt in Oct

In Sep, China imported 114,000 mt of aluminium scrap, down 19.1% month on month but up 17.5% year on year