Jul 23, 2012 (Dow Jones) BEIJING--China's refined copper imports in June fell 17.2% from a month earlier but rose 40% on year to 250,097 metric tons, the General Administration of Customs said Monday.

Imports in the first six months rose 73.6% to 1.88 million tons, Customs said.

China's copper concentrate imports in June fell 19.1% on year to 480,680 tons, Customs said. In the first six months, copper concentrate imports rose 15.1% to 3.4 million tons.

China is the world's largest copper consumer.