Japan Export of Zinc Ingot, Copper and Aluminium Scrap Increases in February

Japanese export of electrolytic cathode copper, zinc ingot, copper and aluminium scrap increased in February from a year ago, while the lead scrap export decreased, announced Ministry of Finance on Friday. The export of zinc ingot, copper and aluminium scrap increased when Japanese exporters could gain more profits by the export than the domestic sales due to the surging international prices of non-ferrous metals, although the domestic supply is tight of zinc ingot, copper and aluminium scrap in Japan. It is uncertain if the domestic suppliers hold excess output capacity of these metal sources. The electrolytic cathode copper export seemed to increase due to the production expansion at Japanese makers. On the other hand, the lead scrap export decreased with the supply tightness in the domestic market. The supply of lead pipe and sheet is especially decreasing in Japan and secondary ingot makers have difficulty to secure enough materials in volume.The unit prices were raised for all exports in February. Especially the copper scrap price increased more than twice to 187.6 yen per kilogram.