China’s net refined copper imports rise sharply in March on rising demand

China’s March net refined copper imports increased sharply 17% m/m and 50.4% y/y, reaching 435kt, resulting in the total refined imports of 1,067kt in Q1 2016, as compared with 761kt in the same period last year. Meanwhile, refined copper exports reached 23kt last month, in spite of concerns of a surge in refined copper export at CESCO. However, the export was surpassed by refined imports that reached 458kt in March.

The recovery in demand for refined copper is quite striking. The underlying demand is expected to have mainly driven the solid figures for import, noted Barclays. The rise in demand is in line with solid steel and cement sectors’ performance last month. China’s government increased the state FAI spending in the first quarter by 19.6% y/y in order to stabilize growth.

In March, scrap imports rebounded, growing 76% m/m to 300kt. The strong growth was due to weak imports in the previous month. On a gross tonnage basis, scrap imports reached 742kt in the first quarter, as compared with 781kt in the same period last year. Copper concentrate imports of China fell 6% m/m to 1,370kt. On a yearly basis, it dropped 4%. Concentrate imports grew strongly by 33% y/y in the first quarter, reaching 4,000kt, as compared with 3,008kt in Q1 2015.