SHANGHAI, Aug 8 (SMM) – China's imports of copper concentrate in July grew sharply year-on-year as rising treatment charges (TCs) fuelled purchasing enthusiasm across smelters, SMM believes.

In July, China imported 1.85 million mt of copper concentrate, up 32.1% from the same period last year, according to data from China Customs. TCs for imported materials began to climb from the start of May. TCs stood at $85-90/mt as of August 3, compared to $71-78/mt on May 4, SMM assessments showed.

Copper concentrate imports from January to July grew 18.2% on the year and stood at 11.40 million mt.

Customs data also showed that imports of unwrought copper and copper products in July grew 15.9% from a year ago and stood at 452,000 mt. This brought imports of unwrought copper and copper products in the January-July period up 16.2% to stand at 3.05 million mt.