China’s total imports of unwrought aluminium and products amounted to 1.49 million tonnes during the first four months of 2024, up by 86.6 per cent from the same period last year.
China’s aluminium imports increased significantly over a year due to demand growth and robust consumption of the green metal. Besides solar and wind power sectors, construction, transportation, and packaging also contributed immensely to the rise in demand.
Russia was the leading exporting country to China, supplying 392,775 tonnes in the first quarter of 2024. That was year-on-year higher by 127.7 per cent than 172,526 tonnes. Inflows of Russian aluminium into China are expected to grow further as Western countries have declared sanctions on Russian aluminium over the Russia-Ukraine geopolitical issue.
Japanese aluminium buyers recently agreed to pay premium above $170/t for Q3 shipments
