Chinese Secondary Al Alloy Price Rebounds after Half Year

The market price turned upward for secondary aluminium alloy made in China after a half year. Shanghai Sigma Metals, Chinese largest secondary aluminium alloy maker, currently offer CIF$ 1,540 per tonne to Japanese alloy customers, increasing by $ 60 from the beginning of March. Other middle-class alloy makers of China also offer as high as around CIF$ 1,500 per tonne recently. Their offer price is now higher than the price of secondary aluminium alloy made in Japan.

China imports aluminium scrap mainly from USA and Europe. In USA and Europe, scrap generation is largely decreasing due to economy deterioration. As a result, scrap supply and demand balance tightened and the market price surged. US offer price has currently reached 52-53 cents per pound for Tense and 50-51 cents per pound for Taint Tabor, up by about 10 cents (25%) since the beginning of this year.

In China, demand for secondary aluminium alloy has recovered month by month this year thanks to the governmental economic measure, according to a Japanese source. Chinese secondary aluminium alloy makers are raising their operation rate to around 80% along the domestic demand recovery.

In Japan, the market price of secondary aluminium alloy is likely to stay as low as 130-140 yen per kilogram for AD12.1 grade in and after April. Imported alloy price had been cheaper by 20-30 yen per kg than domestically produced alloy so far. However, at present, Chinese alloy price became higher by 10-20 yen per kg than Japanese alloy price.