Japan High Export of Nonferrous Metals in April

Japanese nonferrous metals export represented very high level in April. Electrolytic zinc export expanded by 4.6 times to 10,827 tonnes in April from a year earlier, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The export exceeded 10,000 tonnes for 3 months in a row, which accounts for 25% of domestic electrolytic zinc production. Surplus ingot continues to outflow. Copper scrap export was 50,967 tonnes in April, which increased by 30% from a year earlier and exceeded 50,000 tonnes per month for the first time.

In April, Japanese export of electrolytic zinc with above 99.99% purity was 7,116 tonnes for China, 66% of the total export, and 2,797 tonnes for Taiwan, 26% of the total. The export for China expanded to 12,053 tonnes in February and 11,491 tonnes in March. The monthly export volume continued to exceed the annual export amount at 6,856 tonnes in 2008.

As to copper scrap, the export represented month-to-month increase for 4 straight months and jumped by 2.8 times from 18,225 tonnes in January 2009. In April, the export exceeded the previous record 44,239 tonnes of April 2007. About 90% of the export is bound for China. Chinese importers aggressively purchased Japanese copper scrap in April when copper metal price widely surged at Shanghai Futures Exchange compared with offshore markets. However, the importers turned to decrease purchasing after late April and Japanese copper scrap export is expected to decrease in May.