Imports of unwrought aluminium alloy decreased 15% in August

This is a roundup of China's metals weekly inventory as of July 2.

The fluctuation band of aluminium scrap taint was 300 yuan/mt last week, while that of aluminium scrap tense was 200 yuan/mt. Poor sales at secondary aluminium producers pressured aluminium scrap prices. Import restrictions kept supply of aluminium scrap tense tight. Aluminium scrap prices will remain under downward pressure and the price difference between primary aluminium and aluminium scrap will continue to expand before the completion of the next pricing cycle of secondary aluminium in early April.

Imports of unwrought aluminium alloy stood at 107,000 mt in October, decreasing 28% from September and surging 543.1% from a year earlier, and totalled 1.04 million mt in the first ten months of 2020, soaring 753.1% from the same period last year, according to the latest customs data.

China imported 47,000 mt of aluminium scrap in October, down 40.4% on the month, and down 21.5% on the year, and imports totalled 680,000 mt in the first ten months of 2020, down 48% from the same period last year, the latest customs data showed. 

Leo Yi, senior analyst at SMM, explained the challenges posed by the new solid waste law to China’s aluminium scrap supply and operations at secondary aluminium producers

China approved just 121,000 mt of aluminium scrap for imports in its 12th batch of approvals, bringing the total approved amounts to 818,000 mt so far this year, according to the China Solid Waste and Chemicals Management.

Imports of unwrought aluminium alloy stood at 131,000 mt in June, rising 88.3% from May and surging 754.5% from a year earlier, and totalled 466,500 mt in the first half of 2020, soaring 706.1% from the same period last year, according to the latest customs data.

China's environmental authorities on Monday issued the ninth batch of copper, aluminium and steel scrap import quotas for 2020, which was the largest since April.

China imported 9.54 million mt of bauxite in May, down 3.98% from the previous month but up 3.57% from the same month of 2019, according to China customs data under HS code 26060000.

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.