Japanese Copper Export for China Keeps Slow in October

Japanese cathode copper export in October turned to year-to-year increase for the first time in 2 months despite of the wide export decrease for China, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The export totaled 36,614 tonnes in October, up by 8.5% from a year earlier. The export increased by 29.7% to 15,236 tonnes for Taiwan while decreased by 22.9% to 13,459 tonnes for China. In China, demand for copper ingot seems to have slowed down after the sharp increase since spring 2009 stimulated by governmental economic measures.

Japanese copper scrap export totaled 27,320 tonnes in October. The export decreased by 3% from a year earlier and represented year-to-year down for 6 straight months. The export for China decreased by 2.9% to 24,830 tonnes. Chinese demand seems weak due to strict inspection by governmental agencies on imported nonferrous metal scrap.

On the other hand, Japanese aluminium scrap export increased by 69.9% to 8,059 tonnes in October from a year earlier and represented year-to-year up for 6 straight months. The export for China increased by 55.9% to 5,180 tonnes with high export of mix metal used as a material for secondary aluminium alloy.