SHANGHAI, Apr. 21 (SMM) - China’s copper concentrate imports surged 34% year-on-year to 4 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2016, according to China Customs data.

The big growth is due to the surge in imports during January-February, which were booked during December 2015 and early January 2016 when import profit remained high, said SMM. Release of new capacities, restarts at smelters from maintenance and domestic ore supply tightness also grew demand for imported copper concentrate.

China’s copper concentrate imports in March fell 6.04% month-on-month, but up 3.6% year-on-year. Import profit inverted to losses in late January as the SHFE/LME copper price ratio dropped. So arriving shipments, with 1-2 months of delivery period, declined in March.

Copper concentrate imports should fall slightly in April, citing the low copper price ratio, SMM added.

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