IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘China – Aluminum – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights‘. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

Last year, China’s aluminum imports skyrocketed from $511M to $3.8B. Malaysia, Russia and India became the largest aluminum suppliers, with a combined 52%-share of China’s imports. Over the last year, the imports from Russia rose thirteen times, while the purchases from Malaysia increased nearly fivefold. India emerged as the third top supplier, moving from the seventh place it held in the previous year. In 2020, the average aluminum import price dropped by -6.2% y-o-y to $1,659 per tonne.

China’s Aluminum Imports by Country 

In 2020, the amount of aluminum imported into China jumped from 0.3M tonnes in 2019 to 2.3M tonnes. In value terms, aluminum imports surged from $511M to $3.8B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

Malaysia (422K tonnes), Russia (413K tonnes) and India (362K tonnes) were the main suppliers of aluminum imports to China, together accounting for 52% of total imports. South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Italy, Thailand and Australia lagged somewhat behind, together comprising a further 32%.

In value terms, Russia ($737M), Malaysia ($657M) and India ($638M) were the largest aluminum suppliers to China, together accounting for 53% of total imports. South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Italy and Australia lagged somewhat behind, together accounting for a further 30%.

Over the last year, the supplies from Russia increased thirteen times, from $56M to $737M. Imports from Malaysia grew nearly fivefold. India boosted its aluminum exports from $25M to $638M, moving from the seventh place in the largest supplier ranking to the top-three.

In 2020, the average aluminum import price amounted to $1,659 per tonne, which is down by -6.2% against the previous year. Average prices varied somewhat amongst the major supplying countries. In 2020, the highest prices were recorded for prices from Australia ($1,800 per tonne) and Russia ($1,785 per tonne), while the price for Italy ($1,400 per tonne) and Thailand ($1,486 per tonne) were amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Thailand, while the prices for the other major suppliers experienced more modest paces of growth.

Source: IndexBox Platform