Japanese cathode copper export increased by 29% to 43,816 tonnes in September from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance. The export for China increased by 53% to 23,854 tonnes due to higher copper price at Shanghai Futures Exchange compared with the price at London Metal Exchange.
The copper scrap export decreased by 31% to 17,875 tonnes in September from a year earlier. The export for China decreased by 34% to 15,664 tonnes. The export slowed due to tight scrap supply in Japan and the expectation for lower price. The aluminium scrap export was 7,546 tonnes in September as a year earlier level. The export decreased by 16% to 4,918 tonnes for China while the export increased to around 3 times at 1,434 tonnes for South Korea. Japanese exporter would ship long-term contracted scrap for South Korea.