July 2025 Unwrought Aluminum Alloy Imports Hit Four-Year Low, Plunging 28.4% YoY [SMM Analysis]

Recently, the General Administration of Customs released the import and export data for July 2025. According to customs data:

In July 2025, unwrought aluminum alloy imports were 69,200 mt, down 28.4% YoY and 10.6% MoM. From January-July 2025, cumulative imports reached 611,500 mt, down 13.9% YoY.
In July 2025, unwrought aluminum alloy exports were 24,900 mt, up 38.3% YoY but down 3.3% MoM. From January-July 2025, cumulative exports reached 145,200 mt, up 7.8% YoY.

In terms of import sources, the top five countries for China's unwrought aluminum alloy imports in July 2025 were Malaysia (26,000 mt, 37%), Russia (14,000 mt, 21%), Thailand (7,000 mt, 10%), Vietnam (6,000 mt, 9%), and South Korea (3,000 mt, 4%). The total share of all other countries was less than 20%. Among the top five importers, only Vietnam saw a slight increase, while the others experienced varying degrees of decline.

In terms of exports, 25,000 mt of unwrought aluminum alloy were exported in July 2025, with Japan being the largest export destination at 13,000 mt, accounting for 52% of the total. This was followed by India, Vietnam, and Mexico. The main trade modes were processing with supplied materials and processing with imported materials.

Overall, in July 2025, China's imports of unwrought aluminum alloy showed a YoY and MoM decline, hitting the lowest monthly import record since February 2021, mainly due to the long-term inverted price spread between domestic and overseas markets for ADC12. Currently, overseas ADC12 prices have risen slightly to the $2,470-2,500/mt range. Affected by the rise in domestic prices and the strengthening of the RMB exchange rate, the immediate import loss has narrowed to 400 yuan/mt but remains in a loss state. Constrained by the domestic market underperforming the overseas market and the off-season for demand, imports in August are expected to remain low.