HANOI: Trade statistics from the third quarter of 2016 are in, and they paint an interesting picture relative to the ongoing saga of China Zhongwang and its alleged involvement in the transshipment of aluminium extrusions.
Readers of this site will undoubtedly be familiar with the story to this point – for the better part of two years Zhongwang, the world’s second-largest extruded aluminium producer, has weathered allegations that it has conducted shipments of up to one million tons of semi-formed aluminium profiles through Mexico and/or Vietnam, melted them down into ingots, and sold as such in a scheme to evade Chinese export duties and United States import duties, and to obtain VAT rebates from China. Representatives for the firm have steadfastly denied the allegations from the beginning, characterizing the “non-factual statements” as “completely baseless.”
Although the eyes and ears of the aluminium world have been focused upon the stockpile with alleged connections to Zhongwang that passed through Mexico, the latest trade numbers may reveal another route by which aluminium may be trafficked in illicit extrusions.
In the first three quarters of 2016, Malaysia exported 115 thousand metric tons of extruded aluminium (customs code 7604) to Vietnam, accounting for seventy percent of Malaysia’s exports over that time period. Malaysia has scarcely been a haven for the production of extruded aluminium – prior to last year, the country held a relatively steady quarterly global export total of 14 thousand metric tons.
The increase in exports between 2016 and the years prior is quite noticeable. Totals consistently hovered between the low-500 metric tons and the high-700 metric tons for each quarter between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the third quarter of 2015, inclusive. Exports to Vietnam were scarcely more than an afterthought in this time period, with shipments to the country near the bottom of overall aluminium extrusion exports. However, in the final quarter of 2015, exports of extruded aluminium to Vietnam showed signs of life, rising to just over four thousand metric tons, surpassing the volume of extruded aluminium shipped to Australia, the country’s usual favorite importer, by 755 metric tons.
Once the calendar rolled over to 2016, exports from Malaysia to Vietnam reached a fever pitch. Exports to Vietnam in the first quarter totaled just slightly under 25 thousand metric tons, a six-fold increase over the prior quarter, and an increase of over thirty-eight times that of the average exports between the third quarter of 2013 and the third quarter of 2015. Aluminium extrusions sent to Vietnam rose again in the second quarter of 2016, totaling over 30 thousand metric tons for the quarter (for reference, the next closest recipient of Malaysia’s extruded aluminium was Australia, who received a comparatively paltry total of four thousand metric tons). Not to be outdone by previous quarters, the already gargantuan extrusion totals sent to Vietnam rocketed to 59 thousand metric tons, nearly doubling the total from the quarter previous (extrusions sent to Australia were only about a tenth of that total).
