July Refined Copper Inports Up Further, But Likely to Fall In August

SHANGHAI, Aug. 24 (SMM) –According to China Customs, China's imports of refined copper were 194 kt in July, up 16 kt from June.

Based on July import data of unwrought copper and copper semis released earlier, imports of refined copper shall be around 190 kt in July. Based on detailed data from China Customs, the main driving force for the increase in imports of unwrought copper and copper semis was an increase in refined copper, which SMM mentioned in earlier reports was due largely to new goods arrivals during July.

Copper prices have been experiencing significant declines during August, but SHFE copper prices fell slower than LME copper prices, which improved the SHFE/LME copper price ratio and will increase interest for copper concentrate imports. However, since goods arrives and quotation pricing have lagging effects, new goods arrivals during August will be little affected by July's higher copper prices and the unfavorable price ratio. Therefore, SMM believes imports of copper concentrate during August will drop slightly.