China’s unwrought copper imports declined in June to a 14-month low, customs data showed on Friday. Imports of unwrought copper and products were 436,000 metric tons last month, down 3% from the 449,649 tons a year earlier and the lowest since April 2023.
The decline in copper imports was attributed to weak domestic demand, as China’s manufacturing sector contracted for the second consecutive month in June. Additionally, the country’s property sector, a major consumer of the industrial metal, continued to show persistent weakness, with housing investment and completion contracting in May.
High global copper prices also suppressed buying appetite, as the benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange hit a record high above $11,100 a ton on May 20, although it has since declined by 12%.
Slow consumption pushed up stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange to a four-year peak, and the Yangstan copper premium, a closely watched indicator of China’s spot import appetite, stayed negative in June.
Despite the decline in June, copper imports for the first half of the year were up 6.8% to 2.76 million tons. However, analysts expect buying to have slowed starting from May, which is reflected in the declines in imports for June and the coming months.
Imports of copper concentrate, on the other hand, rose 8.7% in June from a year earlier to 2.31 million tons. For the first six months of 2024, copper concentrate imports totaled 13.9 million tons, up 3.7% from a year earlier.