China’s significant increase in imports of unwrought aluminium and related products caused aluminium prices to drop by 0.68% to end at 239.85. With a remarkable 72.1% year-over-year growth in April imports to 380,000 metric tonnes, the first four months of the year saw 1.49 million tonnes of imports, an 86.6% increase over the same period last year.
Increased imports from Russia are to blame for the noteworthy increase in imports; in the first quarter, imports totalled 392,775 tonnes, up 127.7% from the same period last year.
Russia’s actions in Ukraine have led to recent restrictions on Russian metals by the US and Britain. As a result, China is likely to continue receiving Russian aluminium imports, which will increase the nation’s metal reserves. Furthermore, the International Aluminium Institute reports that the world’s primary aluminium output increased 3.3% year over year in April to reach 5.898 million tonnes.
China, the world’s top producer of aluminium, produced 3.58 million metric tonnes of primary aluminium in April, 7.2% more than the same month the previous year. Rising domestic and international aluminium prices were the main cause of this spike.
