China's Copper imports declines 2.9% m-o-m in Aug; Iron Ore rises 7%: Customs Data

Metal Recycling News  |  2012-09-10 09:33:18   |   By Paul Ploumis

The world's biggest copper consumer China's August imports dropped by 2.9% month-on-month while its iron ore imports advanced by 7% month-on-month, as per latest preliminary customs data on Monday.

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The world's biggest copper consumer China's August imports dropped by 2.9% month-on-month while its iron ore imports advanced by 7% month-on-month, as per latest preliminary customs data on Monday.

Reversing July's uptrend as the economic slowdown in the world's top consumer of the red metal cut demand. The slight decline in copper imports was in line with importers' expectations as most Chinese buyers did not place spot orders in August.

Mainland China's imports of anode, refined metal, alloy and semi-finished copper products totalled 355,856 tons in August this year, the second-lowest this year. In July this year country imported 66,548 tons.

The increase in iron ore imports followed a collapse in global prices of the steelmaking raw material but with inventories still high, imports were expected to decline over the rest of the year.

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