SHANGHAI, June 22 -- In the first five months of 2010, China's imports of refined lead, zinc, tin and nickel all dropped on an annual basis, according to figures released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on June 21.

China imported a total of 6,459 tons of refined lead from January to May, down by 94.13 percent year-on-year, while the country's imports of lead ore and concentrate also slid by 11.84 percent to 484,029 tons. China's exports of refined lead rose by 77.74 percent year-on-year to 10,569 tons in the same period.

In the five-month period, refined zinc imports stood at 122,944 tons, down 70.17 percent year-on-year, while imports of zinc ore and concentrate also dropped, down 3.59 percent year-on-year to 1.29 million tons. The country's exports of refined zinc, however, soared by 604.6 percent year-on-year to 29,507 tons.

Imports of refined nickel came to 75,222 tons in the first five months of 2010, down 4.78 percent on an annual basis, while nickel ore and concentrate imports increased by 111.55 percent year-on-year to 7.58 million tons. Exports of refined nickel and nickel alloy rose by a massive 1,368.64 percent year-on-year to 29,652 tons in the period.