China January-February Copper Imports Rise 2.6% as Demand Improves

COPPER - BEIJING. China's unwrought copper imports rose 2.6% in the first two months of 2024, customs data showed on Thursday, as domestic demand improved from the same period in the previous year, when pandemic restrictions had just been lifted.

Arrivals of unwrought copper and products in China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal, were 902,000 metric tons in January and February, up from 879,000 tons in the same year-ago period, the General Administration of Customs data showed.

China combines import data for January and February into one release to smooth out the impact of the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall in either of these months each year.

The yearly growth indicated better domestic demand compared to the same period last year when China had just dropped its COVID restrictions, said He Tianyu, a copper analyst at commodity research house CRU.

However, copper imports were limited by high inventories and more domestic output, He added.

Copper stocks monitored by Shanghai Futures Exchange hit a one-year high last Friday.

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Copper consumption is likely to pick up from around mid-March, as end users ramp up production after the Lunar New Year holiday and before the summer, when maintenance usually happens.

Analysts, however, said consumption this year is likely to be subdued due to the slowdown in the property market, a key copper user whose troubles have also contributed to weaker growth in the world's second largest economy.

Imports of copper concentrate came in at 4.66 million tons for the first two months of the year, up 0.6% on a year earlier and the highest level ever for the same period, customs data showed.

China is the world's top producer of refined copper and its smelters have been rapidly expanding their capacity over the past year to get ahead of an expected surge in copper demand from sectors related to the green energy transition such as electric vehicles or wind and solar energy.

However, tighter concentrate supplies have led to a drop in processing fees, but this is expected to recover in the next few months, analysts said.