Chinese scrap imports up marginally in Jan-Sep 2006

China's imports of aluminium scrap totalled 1.266 million tonnes (bulk weight) in the first nine months of this year, up 3% on the year-earlier figure.

Imports in September itself at 191,364t were the highest monthly total so far this year and that's helped the cumulative total move ahead of the year-earlier level after several months of being flat. That said, however, import growth is still a long way off the sort of pace—40% growth—seen in 2005.
The US remained the largest source of scrap for the Chinese market in Jan-Sep 2006 with cumulative imports of 311,565t, up 16.1% year-on-year.

However, Australia is fast catching up. Imports jumped by 64.3% year-on-year to 283,902t in the first nine months of the year.