China’s October copper imports slide on softening demand
CHINA’S imports of copper fell in October on the year for the first time since May, hit by softening demand as stringent Covid-19 curbs curtailed factory activity, while domestic production increased.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer. Its imports of unwrought copper and copper products were 404,414 tonnes in October, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
The figure, which included anode, refined, alloy and semi-finished copper products, represented a decline of 1.5 per cent from imports of 410,541 tonnes in October last year.
China’s factory activity fell unexpectedly in October, an official survey showed, weighed by softening global demand and strict Covid-19 curbs, which hit production. That in turn crimped demand for copper, widely used in electrical, construction and transport applications.
“Consumption is quite weak after the (Golden Week) holiday,” said a copper trader in China’s financial hub of Shanghai. “Suppliers have had difficulty looking to sell, therefore they have also trimmed their import activities.”
Domestic production of refined copper has also increased. September’s output of 936,600 tonnes was up 3 per cent from the previous month, and up 18.7 per cent from a year ago, said information provider the Shanghai Metals Exchange.
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October’s imports also dropped 20.7 per cent from September’s figure of 509,954 tonnes.
Lynn Zhao, an anlyst at Macquarie Commodity Strategist, said the monthly fall came after a disruption in the normal pattern, as buyers may have imported more in September in expectation of the holiday closure, which could have led to lower imports that week and the next.
The global copper market has been clouded by subdued demand, amid surging inflation and sluggish economic growth.
Benchmark copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) averaged US$7,450 a tonne in October, while the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange averaged 60,180 yuan (S$11,686.91) a tonne.
China’s import of unwrought copper and copper products totalled 4.8 million tonnes in the first 10 months this year, up 8.8 per cent from the corresponding period last year.
It exported 479,278 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products, including primary, alloy and semi-finished aluminium products, in October. REUTERS
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