BEIJING: China’s semi-finished aluminium exports fell for a third straight month in August as punitive duties imposed by the United Sates and India on Chinese aluminium foil leave manufacturers struggling to find alternative markets. Semi-finished exports stood at 360,000 tonnes last month, according to final customs data published on Tuesday, down 3.2 percent on the same month a year ago and down 7.7 percent from 390,000 tonnes in July. The monthly export figure is the lowest since February 2017. For January-August, semi-finished exports came in at 2.88 million tonnes, up 5.2 percent year on year, customs data showed. Aluminium foil exports, which are included in the semi-finished category, stood at 93,400 tonnes last month, down 4.9 percent year on year, customs data showed. That figure – also the lowest since February – was down 6 percent from July’s 99,408 tonnes. January-August foil exports stood at 794,907 tonnes, up 10.1 percent year on year.
The U.S. Commerce Department last month announced a preliminary decision to impose countervailing duties ranging from 16.56 percent to 80.97 percent on imports of Chinese aluminium foil, giving Chinese exporters little incentive to ship the product to the United States. A decision from Washington on whether to impose additional anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese aluminium foil is due in early October. India imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese aluminium foil in mid-May. The customs data did not provide a breakdown of the semi-finished exports by country but the United States and India were key markets for Chinese foil manufacturers. Some companies are lodging a legal challenge against the U.S. duties.
