Brazil’s primary aluminium exports fell by 35% in 2017, reaching the lowest level on record as the two remaining local producers focused on the domestic market. Shipments totaled 210,201 tonnes in 2017 compared with 323,322 tonnes in 2016, according to figures from the country’s foreign trade ministry, MDIC. This is the lowest annual aluminium export volume since 1989, the initial year on the ministry’s trade database. Shipments totaled 19,489 tonnes last month, down from 25,683 tonnes in December 2016.
