Latest News

China May copper imports jump 16% y/y, beat expectations

China's unwrought copper imports rose a much better than expected 15.8% in May, custom-mades information revealed on Friday, which experts primarily credited to higher circulations from Russia amidst western sanctions on it.

Imports of unwrought copper and items in increased to 514,000 metric tons last month, compared with 444,010 lots a year earlier, information from the General Administration of Customs showed. Imports were up 17.4% from April.

The data consists of anode, improved, alloy and semi-finished copper items.

The double-digit gains came as a surprise to numerous in the market, as actual usage was weak in May in the middle of record high copper prices.

Some more Russia-origin copper might stream into China following western sanctions on Russian metals, stated He Tianyu, a Shanghai-based copper expert at CRU.

Following sanctions on Russian metals by the U.S. and the UK in April, the London Metal Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange prohibited from its system Russian aluminium, copper and nickel.

China's imports of refined copper from Russia increased 33.9% in the first four months this year to 76,387 heaps, custom-mades data revealed. Specific origin import data for May will be released later this month.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo likewise shipped more after hold-ups in shipments triggered by logistics difficulties earlier, CRU's. He included.

The unforeseen surge in May imports could also be associated with. the timing of shipment arrivals, according to Zhang Weixin, an. expert at China Futures.

If you look at imports in April and May integrated, the. average is only somewhat higher than March imports.

On the other hand, scarcities of copper concentrate likewise prompted. smelters to import more unwrought copper used as basic material, a. Beijing-based analyst said.

During January-May, China imported 2.33 million tons of. unwrought copper and products, up 8.8% from a year earlier.

Imports of copper concentrate were 2.26 million lots for. May, down 11.7% from a year earlier, custom-mades information showed.

The decline came with a global supply shortage of mined. copper after a mine closure in Panama.

Imports totalled 11.59 million lots in the first five months. of 2024, up 2.7% from a year previously.

(source: Reuters)