Japanese aluminium ingot import increased by 23% to 147,955 tonnes in April from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance. The import was the highest level since August 2011 under weak offshore market price and higher yen exchange rate. The aluminium alloy ingot import increased by 12% to 87,399 tonnes, which increased for 10 months in a row. The import increased from China under higher yen rate.
The cathode copper import decreased by 80% to 4,969 tonnes in April from a year earlier. The import in April 2011 was very high when the users increased the import with expectation for supply shortage in Japan just after the major earthquake. The import in April 2012 was 30% higher than the figure in March. The import increased by 4.3% to 7,048 tonnes for copper scrap while the import decreased by 50% to 3,105 tonnes for copper alloy scrap. The lead ingot import decreased by 29% to 2,137 tonnes in April from a year earlier. The import decreased from very high level in April 2011 just after the quake. The import in April 2012 marked first decrease in 14 months in year-to-year basis.