BEIJING, April 18 (Reuters) - China's aluminum imports fell 4.6% in March from a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday, dropping below 200,000 tons amid a rapid rise in overseas prices.
The country imported 197,134 tons of raw aluminum and products, including primary metal and raw alloyed aluminum, last month, compared to 206,556 tons in March 2021, according to the customs agency.
In the first quarter of the year, China imported 533,136 tons of the metal, down 19% year-on-year, according to customs data. But the value of aluminum imports in March and January-March rose 16% and 2.4% respectively despite the drop in shipments by volume, according to official data.
"Aluminum prices in the overseas market are higher than those in China now, as some foreign producers had been cutting production since late 2021 amid higher energy prices," said Shen Lingyan, an analyst at consulting firm Antaike, speaking before the data was released.
By comparison, China's exports of aluminum products and raw aluminum rose 34% in March from the same month a year earlier to 594,361 tons, customs data showed.
Its imports of bauxite, the main source of aluminum ore, amounted to 11.7 million tons last month, a year-on-year increase of 16%.
Bauxite imports from January to March increased by 20% compared to the same period in 2021 to 32.67 million tons, customs said.
