China’s aluminum imports in August fell 19% from a year earlier, according to customs data released on Sunday, reflecting a lower appetite for overseas purchases amid lower domestic production. record and a scarce foreign supply.

China imported 200,440 tonnes of unwrought aluminum and products, including primary metal and unwrought aluminum alloy, in August, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

The decrease in imports is due to the fact that the nervousness about the local offer has diminished thanks to the increase in production and the relaxation of energy restrictions that limited production and had also boosted the demand for imported material.

China, the world’s largest producer and consumer of the light metal, produced 3.51 million tonnes of aluminum in August, a record for one month.

This contrasts with increasing cutbacks by European aluminum producers, as rising energy costs have made production of the electricity-intensive metal unprofitable.

Total imports in the first eight months of the year were 1.48 million tons, 27% less than in the same period of the previous year.

Bauxite imports were 10.75m tonnes last month, 24.2% higher than July’s 10.59m tonnes, and a sharp rise from 8.7m in August a year earlier, according to the data.