China's Copper Imports More Than Double in May (Update2)
2005-06-23 21:36 (New York)
(Adds analyst comment in third paragraph.)
By Xiao Yu and Chia-Peck Wong
June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Copper imports into China, the
world's biggest user of the metal, more than doubled in May,
increasing for the first time in 13 months.
Imports were 125,088 metric tons, a rise of 112 percent from
a year earlier, according to figures today from the Beijing-based
customs office. Imports in the first five months fell five
percent to 577,345 tons.
Traders and speculators in China had expected more metal to
arrive in May, as the gains in Shanghai's cash copper markets in
April and May made it profitable to import the metal into China,
said Cai Luoyi, a metal analyst at China International Futures
(Shanghai), by telephone.
``So the increase to over 125,000 tons is normal,'' he said.
May's higher figure will probably not affect futures prices in
Shanghai today, as the country's overall imports this year were
still lower than last year, he said.
Imports will probably rise again in June, he said.
Aluminum imports in May fell 51 percent to 42,639 tons and
imports in the first five months declined 41 percent to 250,393
tons, the customs office said.
China exported 147,491 tons of aluminum last month, a 54
percent increase from a year earlier. Exports rose 31 percent in
the first five months to 642,179 tons, it said.
--With reporting by Chia-Peck Wong in Singapore. Editor: Poole. |
