UK’s exports of aluminum scrap jumped 13pc to 166,796mt in the first four months of 2021 from 147,550mt in the same period of last year.
In April, exports rose by 43pc to 45,046mt from 31,425mt in the same month of the previous year and fell by 10pc from 50,143mt in March. India replaced China as the largest aluminum scrap importer from the UK with a 255pc increase in shipments to the country to 15,444mt in April compared to 4,347mt in the same month of the previous year. China’s imports, however, fell 25pc to 5,455mt from 7,293 during the same timeframe.
Copper scrap
UK’s exports of copper scrap, however, decreased by 0.35pc in the January to April period to 78,367mt from 78,638mt in the same months last year. Exports of UK’s copper scrap in April rose by 44pc to 18,608mt from 12,914mt in April 2020 and decreased by 19pc from 22,865mt.
China remained the largest importer of copper scrap from the UK at 4,190mt in April, despite the 0.24pc decrease from 4,200mt in the same month of the year prior. Hong Kong recorded the highest growth in copper scrap import volumes from the UK with a 1220pc increase to 1,006mt in April 2021 from 76mt in April last year.