OFFICIAL CUSTOMS STATISTICS
Nonferrous Trade Flows
Volume and value of Chinese nonferrous imports and exports, by metal and by product stage — ores, alumina, unwrought metal, scrap and semi-finished goods. Latest month: Jun 2026.
Rolling twelve months
Jul 2025 – Jun 2026, compared with the same twelve months a year earlier.
Over Jul 2025 – Jun 2026 China imported $252.62bn of nonferrous metal and exported $52.74bn, leaving net imports of $199.88bn — up 27.9% against the same twelve months a year earlier.
Monthly total value
Sum of all tracked HS headings. Hover a column for the exact figure.
By metal and stage — Jun 2026
Ranked by value. MoM / YoY compare value against the previous month and the same month a year earlier. Unit price is value divided by net weight, on a customs basis.
| Metal | Stage | Volume | Value | Unit priceUSD/t | MoM | YoY | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | Ores & Concentrates | 2,329 kt | $8.5bn | 3,651 | -0.9% | +30.1% | |
| Copper | Unwrought Metal | 442 kt | $5.95bn | 13,454 | +8.9% | +43.5% | |
| Copper | Scrap | 211 kt | $2.43bn | 11,508 | +13.7% | +64.2% | |
| Aluminium | Ores & Concentrates | 20,316 kt | $1.31bn | 64 | -10.6% | -5.4% | |
| Aluminium | Unwrought Metal | 222 kt | $762m | 3,429 | -16.4% | +13.3% | |
| Copper | Semi-finished | 35.3 kt | $718m | 20,335 | +21.8% | +49.6% | |
| Zinc | Ores & Concentrates | 363 kt | $504m | 1,390 | -8.4% | +43.2% | |
| Nickel | Unwrought Metal | 25.9 kt | $495m | 19,076 | -11.0% | +92.2% | |
| Nickel | Ores & Concentrates | 5,867 kt | $455m | 78 | +0.3% | +62.2% | |
| Aluminium | Scrap | 133 kt | $382m | 2,876 | -10.8% | +14.7% | |
| Lead | Ores & Concentrates | 116 kt | $367m | 3,163 | +6.9% | +89.3% | |
| Tin | Ores & Concentrates | 17.4 kt | $346m | 19,909 | -2.3% | +90.0% | |
| Cobalt | Unwrought Metal | 12.3 kt | $249m | 20,285 | +187.9% | +32.5% | |
| Aluminium | Semi-finished | 28.6 kt | $198m | 6,921 | +10.5% | +7.4% | |
| Aluminium | Alumina | 454 kt | $185m | 407 | +5.8% | +199.9% | |
| Molybdenum | Ores & Concentrates | 11.6 kt | $165m | 14,192 | +17.4% | +52.7% | |
| Tungsten | Ores & Concentrates | 3.3 kt | $131m | 40,023 | +46.3% | +377.3% | |
| Rare Earths | Compounds | 5.4 kt | $128m | 23,584 | +18.1% | -33.6% | |
| Tin | Unwrought Metal | 2 kt | $94m | 47,621 | -18.9% | +50.1% | |
| Lead | Unwrought Metal | 38.1 kt | $84m | 2,195 | -34.2% | +278.5% | |
| Zinc | Unwrought Metal | 8.1 kt | $28m | 3,522 | +7.0% | -75.9% | |
| Tungsten | Unwrought Metal | <0.1 kt | $7m | — | +111.6% | +123.7% | |
| Molybdenum | Unwrought Metal | <0.1 kt | $4m | — | -3.2% | +11.6% | |
| Nickel | Scrap | <0.1 kt | $1m | — | +26.3% | — | |
| Magnesium | Unwrought Metal | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +61.0% | +7.9% | |
| Rare Earths | Unwrought Metal | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -99.8% | -97.9% |
| Metal | Stage | Volume | Value | Unit priceUSD/t | MoM | YoY | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | Semi-finished | 603 kt | $2.54bn | 4,214 | +11.5% | +66.7% | |
| Copper | Semi-finished | 94.4 kt | $1.37bn | 14,516 | +13.5% | +98.8% | |
| Copper | Unwrought Metal | 48.6 kt | $652m | 13,435 | +149.6% | -14.7% | |
| Aluminium | Unwrought Metal | 107 kt | $392m | 3,679 | +30.1% | +215.1% | |
| Aluminium | Alumina | 306 kt | $135m | 439 | -6.6% | +28.0% | |
| Tungsten | Unwrought Metal | 0.6 kt | $125m | 224,360 | +120.2% | +350.8% | |
| Magnesium | Unwrought Metal | 39.4 kt | $96m | 2,449 | +4.3% | +15.1% | |
| Tin | Unwrought Metal | 1.6 kt | $81m | 49,955 | -23.1% | +23.2% | |
| Molybdenum | Ores & Concentrates | 1.5 kt | $50m | 32,696 | -11.7% | +122.5% | |
| Rare Earths | Compounds | 4.3 kt | $45m | 10,355 | -12.1% | +154.7% | |
| Nickel | Unwrought Metal | 1.8 kt | $37m | 20,319 | +118.6% | -76.7% | |
| Cobalt | Unwrought Metal | 0.6 kt | $36m | 61,892 | +36.1% | +3.8% | |
| Molybdenum | Unwrought Metal | 0.3 kt | $29m | 90,373 | -10.8% | +21.2% | |
| Rare Earths | Unwrought Metal | 3.6 kt | $26m | 7,299 | +32.9% | +372.9% | |
| Zinc | Unwrought Metal | 4.3 kt | $15m | 3,541 | -23.2% | +116.0% | |
| Lead | Unwrought Metal | 5.1 kt | $11m | 2,149 | +44.0% | +9.5% | |
| Nickel | Scrap | 0.1 kt | $2m | 12,522 | -32.2% | +851.3% | |
| Aluminium | Ores & Concentrates | 0.6 kt | <$1m | 187 | +60.8% | -43.3% | |
| Aluminium | Scrap | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -34.0% | -23.9% | |
| Copper | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -100.0% | -40.3% | |
| Lead | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -3.5% | -38.4% | |
| Zinc | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +17.4% | -71.2% | |
| Nickel | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -23.8% | — | |
| Tin | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -91.2% | +457.1% |
Net import position
Imports minus exports over Jul 2025 – Jun 2026. A positive figure means China is a net buyer of that product; a negative figure means a net seller. Ranked from the largest net import to the largest net export.
| Metal | Stage | Net volume | Net value | YoY | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | Ores & Concentrates | 30,179kt | $102.64bn | +40.9% | |
| Copper | Unwrought Metal | 4,015kt | $46.2bn | +5.2% | |
| Copper | Scrap | 2,439kt | $24.24bn | +33.9% | |
| Aluminium | Ores & Concentrates | 218,128kt | $14.55bn | +1.3% | |
| Aluminium | Unwrought Metal | 2,737kt | $7.7bn | +10.0% | |
| Zinc | Ores & Concentrates | 5,538kt | $6.86bn | +23.3% | |
| Aluminium | Scrap | 1,984kt | $4.8bn | +20.6% | |
| Lead | Ores & Concentrates | 1,441kt | $3.78bn | +59.8% | |
| Nickel | Ores & Concentrates | 47,084kt | $3.43bn | +19.4% | |
| Nickel | Unwrought Metal | 194kt | $3.38bn | turned net importer | |
| Tin | Ores & Concentrates | 177kt | $2.79bn | +56.7% | |
| Rare Earths | Compounds | 35kt | $1.61bn | +41.8% | |
| Molybdenum | Ores & Concentrates | 82kt | $1.57bn | +95.5% | |
| Cobalt | Unwrought Metal | 71kt | $1.07bn | -62.5% | |
| Tungsten | Ores & Concentrates | 28kt | $1,000m | +451.4% | |
| Lead | Unwrought Metal | 367kt | $778m | +71.7% | |
| Zinc | Unwrought Metal | 93kt | $298m | -76.5% | |
| Tin | Unwrought Metal | 4kt | $176m | -23.4% | |
| Nickel | Scrap | -1kt | -$14m | -109.6% | |
| Aluminium | Alumina | -58kt | -$72m | +93.2% | |
| Rare Earths | Unwrought Metal | -29kt | -$224m | -259.3% | |
| Molybdenum | Unwrought Metal | -4kt | -$261m | +8.6% | |
| Tungsten | Unwrought Metal | -4kt | -$500m | -111.7% | |
| Magnesium | Unwrought Metal | -465kt | -$1.12bn | -0.5% | |
| Copper | Semi-finished | -528kt | -$4.6bn | -112.3% | |
| Aluminium | Semi-finished | -5,516kt | -$20.19bn | -10.9% |
Eleven-year import trend by metal
Annual import volume since 2015, one row per metal. Hover any bar for that year's figure. 2026 covers January to 6 only.
| Metal | 2015 → latest full year | Change | Peak year | By year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | 21,693→37,971kt | ×1.8 | 202537,971 | |
| Aluminium | 62,785→207,490kt | ×3.3 | 2025207,490 | |
| Lead | 1,907→1,590kt | −17% | 20151,907 | |
| Zinc | 3,897→5,675kt | ×1.5 | 20255,675 | |
| Tin | 302→159kt | −47% | 2016485 | |
| Nickel | 35,718→42,312kt | ×1.2 | 201956,330 | |
| Tungsten | 5→20kt | ×4.0 | 202520 | |
| Cobalt | 393→324kt | −18% | 2024641 | |
| Magnesium | 2→<1kt | −77% | 20152 | |
| Molybdenum | 15→80kt | ×5.4 | 2020100 | |
| Rare Earths | 11→77kt | ×7.2 | 2023109 |
Volumes are net weight as declared to China Customs, aggregated from eight-digit tariff lines. The series starts in January 2015 and runs to Jun 2026 with no missing months in either direction.
Source: China Customs’ statistics online query portal (stats.customs.gov.cn). Figures are aggregated from eight-digit tariff lines and cover January 2015 to the latest published month with no gaps in either direction. These are official published statistics — volume and value only, with no company-level detail. Customs revises recent months, so this page is re-imported monthly rather than frozen at first publication.
Unit price is value divided by net weight on a customs basis — it includes ore grade, freight and insurance, and lags spot by a month or two. Use it for trend and for spotting volume-versus-price divergence, not as a quotation.
Related: our written analysis of these flows →Browse the same data by HS code →