Japan Primary Aluminium Import Hits below 120,000T in November

Japanese primary aluminium import hit below 120,000 tonnes per month for the first time since September 2009, according to the trade statistics announced by Ministry of Finance on Monday. The import decreased by 2.2% to 118,829 tonnes in November from a year earlier. The import increased to 185,055 tonnes in June 2010 along the demand recovery for automobiles and home appliances while the import slowed down after June due to the end of Japanese government’s incentives. The aluminium alloy import was also lower than the recent peak of 98,902 tonnes in June, though the import increased by 20% to 88,394 tonnes in November from a year earlier.

The cathode copper import decreased by 5.6% to 4,600 tonnes in November from a year earlier while the copper scrap import increased by 14% to 9,354 tonnes. The copper scrap import kept high volume though the figure represented below 10,000 tonnes per month. The scrap was actively imported not only for copper but brass, bronze and other copper alloys when yen exchange rate maintained strong against offshore currencies.