Japan Cathode Copper Export Decreases in March

Japanese cathode copper export decreased by 14% to 47,851 tonnes in March from a year earlier, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The export to China decreased by 25% to 24,389 tonnes. The demand seemed to be weak from China since electrolytic copper market price at Shanghai Futures Exchange was lower than the offshore market prices.

Japanese copper scrap export increased by 12% to 28,464 tonnes in March from a year earlier, which represented year-on-year plus for 2 months in a row. The export to China increased by 13% to 26,033 tonnes. The demand was strong until mid March when copper scrap market price was expected to surge.

Aluminium scrap export decreased by 11% to 9,012 tonnes. The export to China decreased by 30% to 5,687 tonnes. The demand from China weakened since Japanese market price maintained high.

The export of electrolytic zinc with above 99.99% purity dropped by 62% to 2,235 tonnes. The export to China significantly decreased to 529 tonnes against 4,400 tonnes in March 2010.