China's imports of copper and tin ore from Myanmar both fell more than 25 per cent in the first two months of 2021 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs on Saturday, giving people some insight into its trade flows as the Southeast Asian country enters a state of emergency.
Myanmar is the third largest tin producer in the world.
On February 1 this year, the Burmese military seized power on the grounds of election fraud in November last year. The political bian sparked a wide range of pro-democracy protests, including Monyuwa (Monywa), a copper mine center.
Myanmar accounts for more than 95 per cent of China's total tin concentrate imports, but (International Tin Association), an international tin association, said supplies were mostly "isolated" from political bian and could only be affected by about 20 per cent.
According to data released by Chinese customs, China imported 16986 tons of tin ore and its concentrates from Myanmar from January to February 2021, down 26.5 per cent from a year earlier.
China imported 8745 tons of tin ore and its concentrate from Myanmar in January and 8241 tons of tin ore and concentrate from Myanmar in February.
Affected by the Chinese Lunar New year holiday, China's data for the first two months of the year are usually considered as a whole.
China's imports of tin from Myanmar increased sixfold to 8241 tons in February alone, after the novel coronavirus outbreak seriously disrupted trade in the same period a year earlier, but imports were still well below those at the end of 2020.
In the first two months of this year, China's imports of cathode copper from Myanmar totaled 8350 tons, down 25.5 per cent from a year earlier.
Imports fell 55.4 per cent to 4998 tonnes in February.
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