Chinese aluminium ingot ADC 12 export prices to main Japanese ports (MJP) hit a record high on Wednesday May 16, pushed up by a tight raw material market in China after the temporary one-month shutdown of the China Certification & Inspection Group's (CCIC) North American office, which stopped all scrap imports to China immediately.
Metal Bulletin's price assessment for Chinese aluminium alloy ADC 12 soared to $2,060-2,070 per tonne, delivered to MJP, on Wednesday from $2,000-2,010 per tonne the week before, while ample stock pressured the domestic ex-works China duty-paid price at 15,500-16,000 yuan ($2,434-2,513) per tonne, yet left it flat with last week. The CCIC North America notified US exporters on May 3 that they had stopped issuing export licenses to China until June 4, and notified Chinese importers that imports were suspended with immediate effect."Now we can't import raw material for producing ADC from the US, we need to buy from Europe where the price is much higher. This has pushed up ADC 12 export prices," one producer in southern China said."We stopped selling and offering in the...