China, the world’s biggest aluminium producer, imported 265,569 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in December, the highest since September 2020, found the General Administration of Customs data. The import volume in December was up by 40.43 per cent month-on-month from 188,973 tonnes and by 147.3 per cent on year.

Full-year shipments in 2020 were 2.7 million tonnes, up 318.7 per cent than in 2019. Rapid demand recovery for aluminium in China after the COVID-19 outbreak led to Shanghai aluminium price surge over London, resulting in an open arbitrage for cheaper imports.

China’s aluminium imports in 2020, including both primary aluminium and unwrought alloy, surpassed the previous annual record set in 2009. China turned net importer in July and August for the first time in over a decade.

China’s aluminium exports in 2020 fell to 4.86 million tonnes, the lowest annual total since 2017, found the customs data.

Primary aluminium production in China meanwhile rose to a record-high of 37.08 million tonnes, up 4.9 per cent year-on-year. Output in December stood all-time high at 3.27 million tonnes, surpassing the previously monthly record of 3.2 million tonnes in October 2020, showed the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, January 18.