China exported 518,000 tons of unwrought aluminum and aluminum materials in April

In April 2025, China exported 518,000 tons of unwrought aluminum and aluminum materials, according to the latest foreign trade data from the General Administration of Customs. This demonstrates the stable supply capacity of China’s aluminum processing industry chain in the international market. In terms of product categories, the export products cover multiple segments such as aluminum alloy plates, aluminum profiles, aluminum pipes, and aluminum bars. Among them, the proportion of high-precision aluminum materials processed by machining techniques such as cutting, milling, turning, and grinding has continued to increase, reflecting the industry’s transformation towards deep processing and high-value-added links.

From January to April, the cumulative export volume was 1.883 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.7%. This change is closely related to the adjustment of the global manufacturing industry pattern. Behind the data, domestic enterprises are accelerating their布局 (layout) in high-end fields such as aviation and aerospace aluminum, automotive lightweight aluminum materials, and new energy equipment aluminum. Through technological upgrades such as precision processing, surface treatment (anodizing, electroplating), and heat treatment strengthening, they are reducing their dependence on traditional low-end profiles. For example, the export proportion of extruded aluminum materials used for new energy vehicle battery casings and five-axis machined aluminum alloy components for aviation structures has increased. Although this has a certain impact on total volume growth in the short term, it has significantly enhanced product premium capabilities.

As an important basic material in the machining industry chain, aluminum materials are deeply integrated into the high-end manufacturing supply chain due to their characteristics of light weight, corrosion resistance, and easy processing. Industry insiders point out that with the popularization of domestic CNC machining centers and industrial robot automated production lines, the precision and efficiency of aluminum machining have been continuously improved. In the future, driven by intelligent manufacturing and green manufacturing policies, China’s aluminum material exports are expected to break through from “quantity” to “quality” and occupy a more important position in global high-end aluminum product trade.