China July copper imports decline on weak demand

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s unwrought imports slid in July from a year earlier, customs data showed on Wednesday, amid subdued demand and high stocks of the metal.

Imports of unwrought copper and products were 438,000 metric tons last month, down 2.9% from 451,159 tons a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

The data includes anode, refined, alloy and semi-finished copper products.

The lower imports come amid stubbornly weak demand in the world’s top consumer of the metal used in power and construction sectors.

Amid a protracted property crisis, China’s manufacturing activity slipped to a five-month low in July, with retail sales, capital market services and real estate service industries all shrinking.

State-backed research house Antaike expects China’s refined copper consumption growth to slow down to about 2.5% this year, from 5.3% in 2023.

Lacklustre demand and strong domestic production resulted in a higher-than-usual rise in inventories this year.

Deliverable copper stocks in the warehouses of Shanghai Futures Exchange have been elevated at around 300,000 tons since April, a four-year high.

For the first seven months of the year, copper imports were up 5.4% at 3.2 million tons, the data showed.

Imports of copper concentrate were 2.17 million tons for July, up 9.6% from a year earlier, customs data showed.

Copper concentrate imports totalled 16.06 million tons for the first seven months, up 4.5% from a year earlier.