Exports boom while domestic sales slip in Chinese auto sector

China’s car manufacturing sector is undergoing a significant rebalance with a slump in domestic sales and a surge in exports.

The latest situation has been set out by Shen Dong of OmniSource Corporation in the US and a board member of BIR’s non-ferrous metals division. Writing in the world recycling organisation’s latest Mirror market report, he says: ‘Domestic auto sales data for the first five months of the year highlight a clear structural rebalancing towards electrification and globalisation amid sluggish home demand.’

Export surge

Dong points out that overall vehicle sales by Chinese car makers have declined 4.2% year-on-year to 12.207 million units and retail numbers have dropped significantly in the domestic market, extending an eight-month run of year-on-year declines.

However, he adds, vehicle exports surged 68.7% year-on-year in May to 930 000 units to take the export share of total vehicle production to nearly 36%.‘Owing to this weak home demand, the China Passenger Car Association has revised its 2026 forecast downwards and is now projecting an 11-20% contraction in domestic retail sales for the full year,’ Dong says.

Across the wider non-ferrous sector, he concludes that China’s non-ferrous scrap metal sector is contending with broad price volatility, a regulatory push for resource self-reliance and strict import compliance deadlines. The market is balancing a long-term governmental goal to expand recycled metal output with near-term logistical and global macro constraints.

Non-ferrous strategy

Meanwhile, the government is implementing its two-year plan to stabilise and drive the non-ferrous metalsindustry. The plan sets a target of raising China’s annual recycled non-ferrousmetal output to over 20 million tonnes and of achieving 5% average annual growth in the sector’s value-added output.

‘Jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the policy tilts heavily towards achieving self-reliance in critical supply chains like copper, aluminium and lithium in order to hedge against geopolitical tensions.’ Dong explains.