SMM Sees Limited Impact from China’s Aluminium Export Tariff Hike Next Year

SHANGHAI, Dec 29 (SMM) - Starting from January 1, 2023, China will raise the export tariff on primary aluminium from 15% to 30%. However, SMM understands that this will have limited impact on the short-term market supply and demand. In the past five months, China’s aluminium exports have fallen sharply. In the past three months, the monthly export was less than 3,000 mt. 

Yet, the long-term impact is worthy of close attention. The export window is unlikely to open, unless overseas aluminium prices trade at much higher premiums over the domestic prices.