Japan Copper and Aluminium Import Increases in February

Japanese import of primary aluminium and electrolytic copper increased in February from a year earlier, announced by Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The primary aluminium import increased by 38.8% to 190,197 tonnes, of which import from Russia increased by 75.1% and of which import from Canada doubled. The import of electrolytic copper (cathode copper) increased by 13.1% to 3,999 tonnes.The import of aluminium alloy ingot increased by 8.6% while aluminium scrap decreased by 34.4% in February from a year ago. The import of aluminium alloy scrap downed by 29.1% to 9,107 tonnes when the import from Saudi Arabia almost halved.The copper scrap import increased by 42.8% to 5,411 tonnes and the import of brass and bronze scrap increased by 41.3% in February from a year earlier, when domestic electric cable makers and copper fabricators kept high operations.