China’s unwrought aluminium and aluminium products’ imports rose to 455,128mt in Jan-Feb period, up by 150.7pc from a year ago, while imports of unwrought copper and copper materials rose by 4.7pc to 884,010mt, according to China’s General Administration of Customs data. Robust economic activities since the beginning of 2021 and physical arbitrage opportunity in China drove imports of unwrought products.
In the January to February period, imports of aluminum ore and concentrate fell to 17.06mn mt, down by 7pc from a year ago.
Imports aluminum scrap in Jan-Feb fell to 107,186mt, down by 12pc from the prior year period, while alumina imports declined by 29pc to 487,858mt from a year ago. China’s primary aluminum imports rose to 245,422 tons, up 3290.87% from the prior year period.
China’s export of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products rose to 842,125mt, up 25.9pc from the prior year.
Copper
China’s copper ore and concentrates imports rose to 3.79mn mt in Jan-Feb period, up by 0.9pc from a year ago. Copper imports were impacted by port congestion and trade war with Australia. China may need more copper to achieve carbon neutrality. According to a Woodman Mackenzie report, China needs approximately 7.5mn mt copper annually to become completely carbon neutral by 2060.
Exports of unwrought copper and copper products in Jan-Feb increased to 143,138mt, up by 10.8pc from the prior period.