2024-05-09 04:02:24
China’s crude copper imports fell 8.2% in April from the previous month, customs data showed on Thursday, as rising global prices dampened buyers’ appetite.
Imports of raw copper and products into China, the world’s largest consumer of the metal, totaled 438,000 tonnes in April, up from 474,000 tonnes in March, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
Data includes anodes, refined products, alloys and copper semi-finished products.
Copper saw a sharp rise last month, fueled by commodity shortages, demand optimism fueled by the emerging energy and AI sectors and speculative buying.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 13% in April, surpassing the two-year high of $10,000 a tonne on 29 April.
The most traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange also rose 13% last month to hit a record high.
Rising prices have weighed on purchases, as shown by the decline in the Yangshan premium, an indicator of import demand that fell to zero in late April for the first time on record.
Imports of copper concentrate totaled 2.35 million tonnes in April, up 11.9% from a year earlier, according to customs data.
Imports amounted to 9.34 million tonnes in the first four months, up 6.9% from the previous year. (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Writing by Himani Sarkar and Christopher Cushing)
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