Aluminum scrap imports plunge in China

　　The 206,000 metric tons of aluminum scrap imported into China in the first two months of 2019 was down by some 103,000 metric tons, or 33.4%, compared to the volume brought in during the first two months of 2018.

　　At the same time China was accepting less scrap, its exports of unwrought aluminum alloys rose by more than 21% in the first two months of 2019. A 15,300-metric-ton rise in alloy exports in January and February 2019 compared to the prior year.

　　One of China’s largest aluminum producers does not seem phased by the recent statistics. According to a Reuters report, Hong Kong-based?China Zhongwang Holdings <http://en.zhongwang.com/>?will invest more than $3 billion in a new plant in central China’s Henan province that will have annual output capacity of 1 million metric tons of aluminum extrusions.

　　In late March, China Zhongwang Holdings released an earnings report touting “both revenue and net profit [that] hit a record high in light of ceaseless product mix optimization and enhanced added value.”

　　“As one of the leading private enterprises in China, China Zhongwang will continue to foster the entrepreneurship, and promote the application of ecological aluminum alloys with relentless technological innovation,” states the company’s chairman Lu Changqing in remarks accompanying the earnings report.