Aluminium saw a -1.04% decrease yesterday, closing at 199.6, as worries over China’s economic growth continued. Uncertainty regarding the course of the Chinese economy’s growth was increased when the official PMI data showed that industrial activity had contracted for the fourth consecutive month.
Investors were let down by the absence of any convincing signs of a turning point in China’s economic performance. Conversely, the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI surprisingly showed increase, hitting 50.8 in January 2024 beyond market expectations of 50.6 and consistent with December’s reading.
Imports of primary metals increased dramatically to 1.54 million metric tones in 2022 from 668,000 tones in 2022, although they still fell short of the record of 1.58 million tones set in 2021. In 2023, however, Japan’s imports of primary aluminium fell by 26% to 1.03 million metric tones as a result of weak demand from the industrial and construction sectors.
