China’s Copper Cathode Imports Soared in Nov as Overseas Shipping Issues Gradually Alleviated

SHANGHAI, Dec 28 (SMM) – China imported a combined 325,500 mt of copper cathode (unwrought copper cathodes and unwrought other copper cathodes with Cu> 99.9935%) in November 2021, up 22.83% on the month but down 2.42% on the year, according to the General Administration of Customs. Year-to-date imports through November totalled around 3.04 million mt, a decrease of 27.85% on the year.

The month-on-month increase in copper cathode imports in November was mainly contributed by the following countries and regions:

The cargoes that were originally stranded at the ports arrived in November as the shipping issues in Africa, South Africa, Congo (DRC) and other African regions were gradually alleviated from late September to mid-October. In order to complete annual long-term orders, copper smelting companies in Chile, Australia and other countries have increased their shipments to China. In addition, the shipments whose warrants were cancelled from the LME warehouses also arrived.

China exported 18,900 mt of copper cathode in November, a month-on-month increase of 68.74% and year-on-year growth of 11.99%. Affected by the high backwardation of LME cash to the three-month contract, many domestic copper smelters planned or started exporting cargoes in October. But due to the tight restrictions on ships and containers, the actual volume of cargoes exported were limited. Some were delivered to the bonded warehouses, and some were waiting for empty containers to be exported in November. Therefore, copper cathode exports increased month-on-month in November.