Japan Cathode Copper Export Increases while Scrap Decreases in July

Japanese cathode copper export increased by 5.2% to 42,725 tonnes in July from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance. The export to China increased by 13.8% to 19,913 tonnes with steady demand from automobile, home appliance or infrastructure related industries.

On the other hand, Japanese copper scrap export decreased by 9% to 22,571 tonnes, which represented year-on-year decline for 6 straight months. The export to China decreased by 8.3% to 20,693 tonnes, which showed year-on-year decline for 6 months. Scrap generation maintained stagnant in Japan while Chinese importers’ procuring intentions were weak.

Japanese aluminium scrap export declined by 37.9% to 6,400 tonnes. The export to China dropped by 42.3% to 4,604 tonnes. Chinese importers were negative to procure Japanese aluminium scrap when Japanese market price became relatively high and yen exchange rate strengthened.

The export of electrolytic zinc with purity above 99.99% decreased by 73.9% to 3,054 tonnes. In July 2009, Japanese exporters aggressively sold surplus ingot to China where zinc demand was strong.