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.

SHFE nonferrous metals rose across the board on Friday, as market sentiment was rallied after China’s Ministry of Finance pledged to make an early allocation of the special-purpose bond quotas for transportation infrastructure construction. 

Crude oil prices jumped on Thursday, following their biggest-ever quarterly losses, as US President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their oil price war.

The impact from the coronavirus pandemic on China’s aluminium exports is mounting as greater part of the world comes under lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. On Wednesday, Vietnam, a major buyer of Chinese aluminium, entered into a 15-day period of nationwide isolation. Residents are required to stay at home and can only go outside for “essential needs,” such as food, medicines, urgent medical services or to go to work at companies permitted by the government to remain open.

Shanghai base metals opened mostly higher on Wednesday morning, as Beijing said that it will roll out a set of fiscal and financial policies to expand domestic demand, assist businesses reopening, sustain employment, and help all types of businesses to weather this difficult time.

SMM data showed that stocks across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, decreased 3,000 mt from last Thursday March 26 to 1.664 million mt as of Monday March 30.

Zinc rose 0.8%, tin climbed 0.7%, nickel advanced 0.6%, aluminium gained 0.2% and copper inched up 0.1%, while lead fell 0.6%.

Lead plunged 1.4% to lead the losses across nonferrous metals, zinc dropped 1.2%, copper fell 0.8%, aluminium shed 0.7%, and nickel lost 0.5%, while tin extended gains by 0.6%.