China’s unwrought copper imports rose by 20.8pc to 436,030mt in May from 361,000mt in the prior-year period after the country announced new construction and infrastructure projects to boost demand for the red metal.
China is the largest consumer of copper. The country’s imports of copper anodes, refined copper and semi-finished copper products, which together constitute its imports of unwrought copper, however, fell by 5.5pc from 461,458mt in the previous month, according to customs data. The decline was on the back of supply disruptions from exporting countries which remained locked down to control the spread of COVID-19.
China’s imports of copper concentrates fell by 8.1pc to 1.69mn mt in May, from 1.84mn mt in the prior-year period and by 16.7pc from the previous month when China imported 2.03mn mt of copper concentrates. The drop in imports also was a result of supply shortage from exporting countries.
Aluminium exports from China also suffered due to a global fall in demand for the metal, especially in the automotive industry in the US and Japan. China exported 382,934mt of aluminium in May, down by 28.5pc from 536,000mt in the prior-year period and down by 13.2pc from the previous month.