Japan aluminium imports falls 26% in 2023 amid slow demand
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By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Japan's imports of primary aluminium fell 26% to 1.03 million metric tons in 2023 amid slow demand in the construction and manufacturing industries, finance ministry data showed on Tuesday.
The figure marks the lowest since at least 1986, according to the ministry's data and import data provided by the Japan Aluminium Association (JAA). It missed even the 1.17 million tons imported in 2020 when demand slumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan is Asia's major importer of the light metal, and the premiums PREM-ALUM-JP for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the benchmark London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price CMAL0 set the benchmark for the region.
In 2023, China's imports of primary aluminium exceeded Japan's imports, reaching 1.54 million metric tons, more than doubling from 2022's imports of 668,734 tons, according to customs data, as robust demand and higher prices drew more shipments into the world's top consumer market for the metal.
Still, no discussions have been made to change the way buyers and producers set quarterly premiums for Asia.
"The single-year imports were down considerably, but Japan remains a stable key importer of the metal and there has been no talk of changing negotiation methods for Asia's premiums," a source at a global producer said.
"Excess imports in 2022 and prolonged inventory adjustments last year led to a significant drop in imports of primary ingots, but demand for value-added products including billets and slabs stayed relatively firm," said another source at a Japanese aluminium rolling mill.
By country, Japan's imports of primary ingots from Russia plunged by 69% while those from Brazil rose 26% and India climbed 19%. Many Japanese companies have been reducing purchases from Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Reflecting sluggish demand, Japan's shipment of aluminium sheets and extrusions fell 6.5% in 2023 from a year earlier, according to the JAA data.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo, Additional reporting by Siyi Liu in Beijing; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))