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: Sep 2026.
Rolling twelve months
Oct 2025 – Sep 2026, compared with the same twelve months a year earlier.
Over Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 China imported $266.2bn of nonferrous metal and exported $57.45bn, leaving net imports of $208.74bn — up 25.6% 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 — Sep 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 | 2,482 kt | $9.28bn | 3,740 | -0.7% | +14.1% | |
| Copper | Unwrought Metal | 427 kt | $6.06bn | 14,184 | +25.5% | +34.3% | |
| Copper | Scrap | 237 kt | $2.88bn | 12,187 | +36.6% | +83.7% | |
| Aluminium | Ores & Concentrates | 18,332 kt | $1.22bn | 66 | +20.3% | +11.6% | |
| Aluminium | Unwrought Metal | 256 kt | $806m | 3,153 | -1.2% | -3.3% | |
| Copper | Semi-finished | 33.6 kt | $727m | 21,643 | +5.3% | +48.3% | |
| Zinc | Ores & Concentrates | 419 kt | $666m | 1,589 | +11.5% | +14.5% | |
| Nickel | Ores & Concentrates | 6,515 kt | $469m | 72 | +21.6% | +37.1% | |
| Aluminium | Scrap | 159 kt | $440m | 2,772 | +13.3% | +28.9% | |
| Nickel | Unwrought Metal | 25.9 kt | $437m | 16,869 | +46.4% | -2.6% | |
| Tin | Ores & Concentrates | 21.6 kt | $363m | 16,785 | +5.0% | +230.0% | |
| Lead | Ores & Concentrates | 120 kt | $347m | 2,900 | +37.5% | +23.4% | |
| Molybdenum | Ores & Concentrates | 10.9 kt | $242m | 22,066 | +14.0% | +9.3% | |
| Cobalt | Unwrought Metal | 14.7 kt | $235m | 15,972 | +28.0% | +83.8% | |
| Tin | Unwrought Metal | 4.6 kt | $232m | 50,502 | +29.1% | +404.3% | |
| Aluminium | Semi-finished | 23.9 kt | $177m | 7,417 | -7.5% | +2.4% | |
| Rare Earths | Compounds | 5.4 kt | $144m | 26,838 | +5.4% | -15.3% | |
| Tungsten | Ores & Concentrates | 3.7 kt | $92m | 25,161 | +25.4% | +173.5% | |
| Lead | Unwrought Metal | 33 kt | $76m | 2,296 | +1.2% | +140.4% | |
| Aluminium | Alumina | 73.8 kt | $56m | 765 | -61.4% | +17.0% | |
| Zinc | Unwrought Metal | 3.2 kt | $12m | 3,769 | -28.1% | -85.5% | |
| Tungsten | Unwrought Metal | <0.1 kt | $7m | — | +32.0% | +35.9% | |
| Molybdenum | Unwrought Metal | <0.1 kt | $5m | — | +9.3% | +37.5% | |
| Nickel | Scrap | 0.1 kt | $1m | — | +54.7% | +432.3% | |
| Magnesium | Unwrought Metal | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +133.2% | +22.9% | |
| Cobalt | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -38.6% | -78.4% | |
| Rare Earths | Unwrought Metal | 0 kt | <$1m | — | -27.0% | -99.9% |
| Metal | Stage | Volume | Value | Unit priceUSD/t | MoM | YoY | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | Semi-finished | 556 kt | $2.31bn | 4,146 | +2.1% | +38.9% | |
| Copper | Semi-finished | 91.5 kt | $1.46bn | 15,982 | +25.0% | +121.5% | |
| Copper | Unwrought Metal | 48 kt | $674m | 14,053 | -3.6% | +160.7% | |
| Aluminium | Unwrought Metal | 98 kt | $336m | 3,435 | +28.5% | +140.9% | |
| Zinc | Unwrought Metal | 72.7 kt | $284m | 3,905 | +77.1% | +2884.2% | |
| Aluminium | Alumina | 276 kt | $124m | 448 | -39.2% | -11.3% | |
| Nickel | Unwrought Metal | 5.2 kt | $91m | 17,412 | +87.0% | -56.8% | |
| Molybdenum | Ores & Concentrates | 2.4 kt | $85m | 35,895 | +1.5% | +189.9% | |
| Magnesium | Unwrought Metal | 33.2 kt | $80m | 2,407 | -2.0% | -24.1% | |
| Tin | Unwrought Metal | 1.4 kt | $74m | 53,036 | -39.5% | +23.8% | |
| Tungsten | Unwrought Metal | 0.3 kt | $72m | 214,922 | -6.2% | +103.7% | |
| Rare Earths | Compounds | 3.7 kt | $61m | 16,498 | +11.6% | +76.5% | |
| Molybdenum | Unwrought Metal | 0.4 kt | $40m | 92,372 | +18.8% | +71.6% | |
| Cobalt | Unwrought Metal | 0.7 kt | $38m | 56,955 | +23.1% | +74.3% | |
| Rare Earths | Unwrought Metal | 0.6 kt | $7m | 12,519 | -61.4% | -70.7% | |
| Lead | Unwrought Metal | 2.5 kt | $7m | 2,675 | +70.6% | -3.3% | |
| Copper | Scrap | 0.1 kt | $1m | 11,250 | +659599.5% | +8783.4% | |
| Nickel | Scrap | 0.1 kt | $1m | — | -57.8% | -46.6% | |
| Aluminium | Ores & Concentrates | 0.5 kt | <$1m | 265 | — | +1221.5% | |
| Copper | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +0.1% | +81.2% | |
| Lead | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +10.1% | -67.6% | |
| Zinc | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +7.0% | +3.2% | |
| Nickel | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +100.0% | -94.3% | |
| Tin | Ores & Concentrates | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | +12.9% | -56.8% | |
| Aluminium | Scrap | <0.1 kt | <$1m | — | -100.0% | -100.0% |
Net import position
Imports minus exports over Oct 2025 – Sep 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 | 29,642kt | $107.05bn | +36.2% | |
| Copper | Unwrought Metal | 3,924kt | $49.57bn | +11.5% | |
| Copper | Scrap | 2,518kt | $27.15bn | +46.7% | |
| Aluminium | Ores & Concentrates | 216,926kt | $14.18bn | -7.9% | |
| Aluminium | Unwrought Metal | 2,477kt | $7.3bn | -2.6% | |
| Zinc | Ores & Concentrates | 5,339kt | $7.08bn | +18.8% | |
| Aluminium | Scrap | 1,916kt | $4.92bn | +17.7% | |
| Lead | Ores & Concentrates | 1,363kt | $3.96bn | +54.8% | |
| Nickel | Ores & Concentrates | 48,061kt | $3.66bn | +19.7% | |
| Nickel | Unwrought Metal | 203kt | $3.59bn | +346.8% | |
| Tin | Ores & Concentrates | 205kt | $3.37bn | +88.3% | |
| Molybdenum | Ores & Concentrates | 88kt | $1.63bn | +68.6% | |
| Rare Earths | Compounds | 39kt | $1.59bn | +31.3% | |
| Cobalt | Unwrought Metal | 82kt | $1.48bn | -37.0% | |
| Tungsten | Ores & Concentrates | 35kt | $1.21bn | +422.8% | |
| Lead | Unwrought Metal | 428kt | $911m | +340.8% | |
| Tin | Unwrought Metal | 10kt | $445m | +151.8% | |
| Nickel | Scrap | -1kt | -$14m | -87.8% | |
| Rare Earths | Unwrought Metal | -28kt | -$211m | -123.7% | |
| Molybdenum | Unwrought Metal | -4kt | -$291m | -4.4% | |
| Zinc | Unwrought Metal | -89kt | -$354m | turned net exporter | |
| Tungsten | Unwrought Metal | -4kt | -$681m | -147.8% | |
| Magnesium | Unwrought Metal | -448kt | -$1.08bn | +2.8% | |
| Copper | Semi-finished | -569kt | -$5.66bn | -143.8% | |
| Aluminium | Semi-finished | -5,770kt | -$22.06bn | -23.9% |
Where the material comes from
China's imports by trading partner, January–September 2026, for the products with the largest import value. Share is by value; the average price is customs value divided by net weight.
Copper · Ores & Concentrates
21,974 kt imported from 75 partners
- Chile6,373 kt33.2%
- Peru5,472 kt31.9%
- Mongolia1,845 kt10.9%
- Russia1,128 kt7.8%
- Kazakhstan1,073 kt5.4%
- Mexico916 kt5.0%
- Canada457 kt3.0%
- Serbia664 kt2.8%
Copper · Unwrought Metal
3,473 kt imported from 108 partners
- DR Congo1,144 kt45.2%
- Zambia397 kt16.1%
- Russia311 kt12.2%
- Chile214 kt8.6%
- China125 kt5.0%
- Kazakhstan124 kt4.8%
- Japan116 kt4.4%
- Malaysia81.3 kt3.7%
Copper · Scrap
1,875 kt imported from 130 partners
- Thailand310 kt28.0%
- Japan288 kt26.8%
- Spain106 kt9.6%
- South Korea93.8 kt8.0%
- United Kingdom81.9 kt7.5%
- Taiwan, China75.3 kt7.3%
- Saudi Arabia70.3 kt6.4%
- Canada69.8 kt6.3%
Aluminium · Ores & Concentrates
173,530 kt imported from 27 partners
- Guinea138,316 kt81.8%
- Australia29,644 kt15.0%
- Guyana1,328 kt0.9%
- Sierra Leone1,182 kt0.7%
- Türkiye863 kt0.5%
- Côte d'Ivoire718 kt0.5%
- Laos693 kt0.4%
- Brazil256 kt0.3%
Aluminium · Unwrought Metal
2,477 kt imported from 85 partners
- Russia1,765 kt76.0%
- Malaysia186 kt7.5%
- Thailand99.4 kt4.0%
- Indonesia77.7 kt3.5%
- Vietnam63.2 kt2.9%
- India56.6 kt2.7%
- Australia53 kt2.5%
- South Korea23.8 kt1.1%
Copper · Semi-finished
280 kt imported from 71 partners
- Taiwan, China70.6 kt28.2%
- Japan52.8 kt22.4%
- South Korea39.9 kt18.6%
- Indonesia42.9 kt11.0%
- United States21.1 kt7.0%
- Malaysia12.8 kt6.4%
- Germany11 kt4.0%
- Thailand7.8 kt2.5%
Partner here means the country or region the goods came from, as recorded by China Customs — not the province where the importing company is registered. Only partners with a published English name are listed, so a category may show fewer rows here than in the Chinese edition.
How the goods actually move
Chinese customs classifies every consignment by trade regime. January–September 2026, by value. The split is not about legality — all three are ordinary regimes — it is about where the goods end up.
Imports
General trade 58.8%Processing trade 18.2%Bonded / special zones 23.0%| General trade | 58.2% |
| Processing with imported materials | 15.6% |
| Logistics goods in customs special supervision zones | 12.4% |
| Goods entering or leaving bonded warehouses | 10.6% |
| Processing with supplied materials | 1.6% |
| Outward processing | 1.1% |
Exports
General trade 46.8%Processing trade 39.1%Bonded / special zones 14.2%| General trade | 46.7% |
| Processing with imported materials | 28.6% |
| Logistics goods in customs special supervision zones | 12.6% |
| Processing with supplied materials | 9.2% |
| Goods entering or leaving bonded warehouses | 1.6% |
| Outward processing | 1.3% |
Processing trade and bonded-zone movements are ordinary, fully legal customs regimes. They are separated here because material entering under them is not available to the domestic market in the way generally-traded material is — a distinction that matters when you are sourcing raw material rather than reading headline import totals.
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 9 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 Sep 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 →