China's copper imports rose 9.3 percent year-on-year, customs data showed, as a sharp drop in the metal's price sparked buying interest amid falling domestic inventories.
China's total imports of unwrought copper and copper products, including anodes, refined, alloyed and semi-finished copper products, totaled 463,693.8 tonnes in July, compared with 424,280.3 tonnes a year earlier.
| Commodity | Copper ores and concentrates | Unwrought copper and copper products |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | 10000ton | ton |
| July 2022 Import Quantity | 189.9 | 463693.8 |
| July 2022 Import Value | 4541.3 | 4204.4 |
| Jan - July 2022 Import Quantity | 1436.8 | 3405290.0 |
| Jan - July 2022 Import Value | 35948.2 | 33994.1 |
| Jan - July 2021 Import Quantity | 1337.7 | 3218543.7 |
| Jan - July 2021 Import Value | 32338.1 | 29643.8 |
| Cumulative year-on-year (Quantity) | +7.4% | +5.8% |
| Cumulative year-on-year (Value) | +11.2% | +14.7% |
However, copper imports in July fell 13.8% from the previous month's 537,698 tonnes.
Copper prices, often seen as an economic bellwether, fell by a third from a March high to mid-July as China's covid-19 containment measures hurt manufacturing activity and amid growing fears of a global recession.
On July 15, the three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 fell below $7,000 a tonne for the first time since November 2020.
"When the market hit a low point, Chinese copper users and traders bought heavily," said He Tianyu, copper analyst at CRU Group, ahead of the customs data.
Imports were also boosted by an open arbitrage window between Shanghai and London, he said.
This comes against the backdrop of falling domestic copper inventories and the closure of some smelters for summer maintenance.
Copper inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, CU-STX-SGH, fell to 37,025 tonnes on Friday, the lowest since Jan. 21 and down 78% from March.
In the first seven months of 2022, China imported 3.41 million tons of unwrought copper and copper, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%.
The country exported 652,197.9 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products, including primary aluminium, alloys and semi-finished aluminium products, in July, up 39.1% from 469,030.6 tonnes in July last year.