Japan Electrolytic Copper Export Increases in February

Japanese export of electrolytic copper (cathode copper) increased by 52.6% to 34,331 tonnes in February from a year earlier, announced by Ministry of Finance on Friday. The export for China expanded by 80% to 17,308 tonnes, which is the largest importer of electrolytic copper from Japan. The export also increased by 49.6% to 11,215 tonnes for Taiwan and to 3.2 times or 2,896 tonnes for South Korea.On the other hand, Japanese copper scrap export downed by 32.8% to 22,356 tonnes in February from a year earlier, when copper scrap generation volume decreased in Japan. The copper scrap export volume became less than the electrolytic copper export in February, though the copper scrap export had exceeded electrolytic copper for several months.Japanese export of alloyed aluminium ingot increased by 23% to 1,851 tonnes in February from a year ago, while aluminium scrap decreased by 27% to 5,102 tonnes. The lead ingot export jumped up to 4.4 times or 963 tonnes while lead scrap decreased by 20% to 597 tonnes.