China’s aluminium imports fall 10.6% in March 2025, while bauxite shipments rise 39.1%

According to the customs data, in March 2025, China witnessed a 10.6 per cent decline in aluminium imports, including unwrought aluminium and aluminium products, year-on-year to 340,000 tonnes. 

Image source: IndiaMART

In March 2024, China’s primary aluminium imports surged by 246 per cent year-on-year, reaching 249,000 tonnes. During the same period, imports of unwrought aluminium also rose by 89.8 per cent year-on-year. In 2024, Russia accounted for the largest share of China’s primary aluminium imports at 46.5 per cent, followed by India at 10 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2025, China’s total aluminium and product imports amounted to 950,000 tonnes, whereas in the entire year of 2024, it stood at 3,747,070.84 tonnes. However, China’s Q1 imports reflect a 14 per cent decline compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

To have a more streamlined idea, China imported a total of 3,349,238.81 tonnes of unwrought aluminium in 2024. In January 2025, China imported a total of 99,700 tonnes of unwrought aluminium alloys indicating 4.9 per cent down Y-o-Y and 5.6 per cent down M-o-M.

In February 2025, China imported a total of 91,900 tonnes of unwrought aluminium alloys, showing a further decline from the previous month by 7.8 per cent M-o-M but a steady growth of 3.6 per cent Y-o-Y basis. As a result, China’s cumulative unwrought aluminium alloy imports for the first two months of 2025 totalled 191,500 tonnes, marking a 1.0 per cent year-on-year decline.

The top countries that exported China with unwrought aluminium in the first two months of 2025 were Russia with a total of 348,639.81 tonnes, Malaysia with a total of 89,726.91 tonnes and Thailand with a total of 14,267.88 tonnes.

However, in March 2025, China’s bauxite imports, a key raw material for aluminium production, increased by 39.1 per cent year-on-year, reaching 1.64 million tonnes. In China, the cumulative bauxite imports in the first quarter of 2025 stood at 4.7 million tonnes, showing an increase of 29.9 per cent Y-o-Y basis.