Malaysia’s copper scrap imports dropped by 44.8pc in March 2020 from a year ago. Aluminium scrap imports, however, rose by 82pc in the month on high demand of secondary aluminium alloys from China with exports up by 582pc.
Copper scrap imports into Malaysia dropped to 25,436mt in March. The US and Japan remained the top two exporters of the material. Exports from traditional markets such as Canada, the UK and South Korea dropped by 70-90pc due to the impact of COVID-19. Malaysia’s imports of copper scrap in Q1 2020 (Jan-Mar) also dropped by 35.7pc.
Aluminium scrap imports, on the other hand rose by 82pc in March to 32,550mt from 17,877mt a year ago. The increase in aluminium scrap imports was driven by high demand for secondary aluminium alloy from China which resumed operations in March. Exports of aluminium alloys rose by 8.3pc in March.
| Malaysia scrap imports | Mar-20 | Mar-19 | % change | Jan-Mar 2020 | Jan-Mar 2019 | % change |
| Copper scrap | 25,436 | 46,069 | -44.8 | 70,966 | 110,498 | -35.7 |
| Major exporters | ||||||
| US | 8,065 | 22,870 | -64.7 | 28,903 | 55,223 | -47.6 |
| Japan | 5,114 | 8,450 | -39.5 | 13,046 | 15,775 | -17.3 |
| Hong Kong | 2,526 | 559 | 351 | 8,545 | 2,116 | 303.8 |
| Aluminium scrap | 32,550 | 17,877 | 82 | 123,499 | 56126 | 120 |
| Major exporters | ||||||
| US | 18,555 | 10,362 | 79 | 77,421 | 30,818 | 151.2 |
| Japan | 4,373 | 2,172 | 101 | 15,498 | 5,431 | 185.4 |
| Australia | 2,516 | 1,325 | 89.8 | 6,617 | 4,289 | 54.3 |
| Malaysia exports | Mar-20 | Mar-19 | % change | Jan-Mar 2020 | Jan-Mar 2019 | % change |
| Aluminium alloy | 51,011 | 47,085 | 8.3 | 1,66,790 | 133510 | 25 |
| Major importers | ||||||
| China | 21,033 | 3,084 | 582 | 55,717 | 9,077 | 513 |
| Vietnam | 5,159 | 3,736 | 38 | 15,057 | 9,866 | 52.6 |
| India | 4,812 | 8,583 | -44 | 18,158 | 24,383 | -25.5 |