China July copper imports rise on-year as price slump spurs buying

CHINA'S imports of copper rose 9.3 per cent from a year earlier, customs data on Sunday (Aug 7) showed, as a sharp drop in the price of the metal triggered buying appetite amid falling domestic inventories.

Unwrought copper and copper product imports into China, including anode, refined, alloy and semi-finished copper products, totalled 463,693.8 tonnes in July, compared with 424,280.3 tonnes a year earlier.

July's copper imports, however, were down 13.8 per cent from the previous month's 537,698 tonnes.

Copper prices, often seen as an economic bellwether, plunged by one-third from a March high to mid-July as China's Covid-19 control measures hurt manufacturing activities and amid growing fears of a global economic recession.

On Jul 15, the 3-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange sank below US$7,000 a tonne for the first time since November 2020.

"There was large-volume buying from Chinese copper users and traders when the market hit lows," said He Tianyu, a copper analyst at CRU Group, prior to the release of the customs data.

Imports were also buoyed by the open arbitrage window between Shanghai and London, He said.

This was against the backdrop of falling domestic inventories of copper, with some smelters shut for summer maintenance.

ShFE copper inventories dropped to 37,025 tonnes on last Friday, the lowest since Jan 21, and a 78 per cent drop from March.

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In the first 7 months of 2022, China brought in 3.41 million tonnes of unwrought copper and copper, an increase of 5.8 per cent from last year.

The country exported 652,197.9 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products, including primary, alloy and semi-finished aluminium products, in July, up 39.1 per cent from 469,030.6 tonnes last July. REUTERS