China’s imports of unwrought copper and copper products rose to 2.84mn mt in the first half of 2020 (Jan-June), up by 25pc from the prior-year period, while the country’s unwrought aluminium exports dropped by 21pc to 2.36mn mt in the same time period.
China unwrought aluminium exports dropped to 354,038mt in June, from 382,934mt in May 2020, hitting its lowest since Feb 2019. Exports plunged on a significant drop in demand from the global automotive industry, as operations have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
China’s unwrought copper and copper product imports also doubled in June to 656,483mt from 326,000mt in the prior-year period, amid lack of copper scrap supply as import quotas ran out in June.
The country’s copper ore and concentrate imports rose by 8pc to 1.59mn mt in June from a year ago, and by 3pc to 10.84mn mt in Jan-June year-on-year amid supply shortage concerns as major copper mining countries like Chile and Peru were affected by the pandemic.