Japan Copper Import Keeps Steady, Export Slow in August

Japanese cathode copper import maintained steady while the export kept year-on-year minus in August. The import was 5,904 tonnes, which almost doubled from a year earlier and represented y/y increase for 3 months in a row, while the export was 33,661 tonnes, which decreased by 9.6% from a year ago and showed y/y down for 3 straight months, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The export decreased by 37.4% to 8,604 tonnes for Taiwan in August, the main importer.As to copper scrap, the import increased by 1.3% to 5,970 tonnes in August from a year earlier while the export decreased by 4.6% to 34,050 tonnes. Copper scrap export decreased by 5.5% to 30,548 tonnes for China, the largest importer.Primary aluminium import increased by 5.8% to 161,792 tonnes in August from a year earlier, which surged by 34.4% to 48,822 tonnes from Australia, the largest exporter. Japanese users seemed to procure ingot actively when the market price declined. Aluminium alloy import was 87,126 tonnes in August, which decreased by 0.8% from a year earlier and became below 100,000 tonnes again after 2 months due to demand slowdown for automobiles. As to export, aluminium scrap decreased by 24.3% to 7,091 tonnes in August from a year ago, which showed y/y down for 3 straight months. The export decreased by 26.7% to 5,466 tonnes from China, the largest importer.Among other nonferrous metals, nickel import decreased by 32% to 2,966 tonnes in August from a year ago, when demand for stainless steel is weakening.