General Administration of Customs: Copper Semis Imports Down 6.2%, Rare Earth Imports Down 5.5%, Aluminum Semis Exports Up 16.7%, January-July

Published: Aug 8, 2026 07:19

According to customs statistics, in the first seven months of 2026, the total import and export value of China's goods trade reached 30.13 trillion yuan, a YoY (the same hereinafter) increase of 17.3%. Exports were 17.44 trillion yuan, up 14%; imports were 12.69 trillion yuan, up 22%. In July, the total import and export value of China's goods trade was 4.66 trillion yuan, up 19.2%. Exports were 2.71 trillion yuan, up 17.8%; imports were 1.95 trillion yuan, up 21.2%.

By trade mode, in the first seven months, China's ordinary trade imports and exports reached 18.13 trillion yuan, up 10.2%; processing trade imports and exports stood at 5.81 trillion yuan, up 26.3%; bonded logistics imports and exports were 5.18 trillion yuan, up 40.8%.

By trading partner, in the first seven months, China's trade with ASEAN totaled 5.14 trillion yuan, up 20%; with the EU, it was 3.67 trillion yuan, up 9.5%; with the US, it was 2.38 trillion yuan, down 1.6%. Over the same period, China's combined imports and exports with Belt and Road partner countries amounted to 15.36 trillion yuan, up 15.5%.

By type of enterprise, in the first seven months, private enterprises' imports and exports stood at 17.16 trillion yuan, up 17.2%; foreign-invested enterprises' imports and exports were 8.78 trillion yuan, up 17.6%; state-owned enterprises' imports and exports reached 4.14 trillion yuan, up 17.3%.

By key commodities,On the export side, in the first seven months, China exported 11.12 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, up 21.2%;labor-intensive products 2.37 trillion yuan, down 1.4%; agricultural products 429.69 billion yuan, up 3.7%.On the import side, in the first seven months, China imported 5.31 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, up 29.7%;283 million mt of crude oil, down 13.2%; and 904.1 billion yuan of agricultural products, up 7.4%.

Based on data released by the General Administration of Customs, SMM has compiled the import and export situation of some metal industry products as follows:

Exports:

In July 2026, rare earth exports were 4,223.5 mt, a YoY decrease of 29.5% from July 2025. Cumulative exports for January-July 2026 were 34,706.3 mt, a YoY decrease of 10% from January-July 2025.

In July 2026, steel exports were 10.121 million mt, a YoY increase of 2.9% from July 2025. Cumulative exports for January-July 2026 were 6,499.5mt, a YoY decrease of 4.4% from January-July 2025.

In July 2026, exports of unwrought aluminum and aluminum semis were 643,000 mt, a YoY increase of 18.6% from July 2025. In January-July 2026, cumulative exports were 4.039 million mt, a YoY increase of 16.7% from January-July 2025.

Imports:

In July 2026, iron ore and concentrates imports were 108.085 million mt, a YoY increase of 3.3% from July 2025. In January-July 2026, cumulative imports were 736.841 million mt, a YoY increase of 5.9% from January-July 2025

. In July 2026, copper ore and concentrates imports were 2.379 million mt, a YoY decrease of 7.1% from July 2025. In January-July 2026, cumulative imports were 16.985 million mt, a YoY decrease of 1.8% from January-July 2025.

In July 2026, coal and lignite imports were 42.728 million mt, a YoY increase of 20% from July 2025. In January-July 2026, cumulative imports were 268.109 million mt, a YoY increase of 4.3% from January-July 2025.

In July 2026, rare earth imports reached 9,451.3 mt, a YoY decrease of 1.8% from July 2025. In January-July 2026, cumulative imports reached 63,323.0 mt, a YoY decrease of 65.5% from January-July 2025

. In July 2026, steel imports reached 445,000 mt, a YoY decrease of 1.5% from July 2025. In January-July 2026, cumulative imports reached 3.14 million mt, a YoY decrease of 10.1% from January-July 2025

. In July 2026, imports of unwrought copper and copper semis were 425,000 mt, a YoY decrease of 11.5% from July 2025. In January-July 2026, cumulative imports were 2.915 million mt, a YoY decrease of 6.2%.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

Images in this article contain AI-translated captions for reference only.

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General Administration of Customs: Copper Semis Imports Down 6.2%, Rare Earth Imports Down 5.5%, Aluminum Semis Exports Up 16.7%, January-July - Shanghai Metals Market (SMM)