China's Copper Imports Fall, Aluminium Exports Down in October

SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) -- China imported a total of 204,424 tonnes of unwrought copper (copper cathode, copper anode and copper alloy) and semi-finished copper products in October this year, down 5.64% from the previous month, according to preliminary statistics released by the General Administration of Customs Monday.

Copper and copper semis imports in the first 10 months hit 2.33 million tonnes, up 38.8% from last year.

Imports of unwrought aluminium (primary aluminium and aluminium alloy) and aluminium semis went up 1.42% monthly to 77,725 tonnes in October.

Meanwhile, exports of unwrought aluminium stood at 31,918 tonnes in October, down 27.72% from September, and the country exported a total of 444,747 tonnes between January and October, down 57% from last year.

Ample supplies and current high premium for the three-month copper price in London Metal Exchange (LME) against Shanghai futures price discouraged copper imports. Therefore, China's copper imports are mostly made through the tolling business or trade finance.

Trade finance is a common practice between traders and banks that grants traders a credit line to pay imported or exports good, and repay loans to banks within a short period of time.

Through copper import finance, some traders invest funds raised from banks in other sectors to make profits and offset losses made in copper imports, but traders also have to take great investment risks, a physical trader in Shanghai who is familiar with the situation told Interfax.

Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) copper plunged 3.81% on Monday to the lowest level since July on rising stockpiles and a pessimistic global economic outlook.

The most traded 2008 January contract dropped below the key RMB 60,000 ($8,092.80) support level to close at RMB 59,650 ($8,045.59) per tonne.

"Investors are anxious about global economic growth, and a pessimistic outlook for the market is spreading right now, as stockpiles continue to increase. This has put a lot of pressure on copper prices," He Jianping, an analyst from Zhongcheng Futures Co., said.

Shanghai aluminium futures closed lower on Monday, affected by the poor performance of zinc and copper counterparts. The most traded 2008 January aluminium contract fell 0.7% to end at RMB 18,500 ($2,495.28) per tonne.

"Aluminium futures followed copper and zinc futures lower and remain weak. However, aluminium didn't fall as much as copper and zinc today because aluminium suffered heavy losses last week," Cao Zhiyi from Jinpeng Futures said.

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