Japan metal traders express concern island spat may affect imports from China

2012-09-14

Some Japanese metal buyers are concerned that imports from China may be affected by the ongoing territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands - called the Diaoyu Islands in China - sources said Thursday.

A Japanese trader of minor metals said that a 100-kg parcel of germanium ingot to be exported from Tianjin had not cleared customs as of Thursday as the Chinese authority had not issued an export permit.

"Export permits are issued in a week but it has been over a week. I am not sure if the territorial dispute is having an impact, but I need to be on alert," the trader said.

He said he had asked his customers for more flexible delivery schedules and to place orders for Chinese material in advance due to possible delivery delays.

Separately, a Tokyo ferroalloy trading house requested Chinese exporters to advance shipping as his customers had raised concerns over political tensions resulting in China banning exports to Japan.

Other Japanese traders said that Chinese customs clearance taking a week or longer was typical. "The Chinese customs one or two months ago were very slow in clearing our cargo, but we have not had such problems recently," said a rare earth trader in Tokyo.

Source: Platts

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