China's Aluminium Imports Fall While Copper Imports Move Up
By David Harman
13 Mar 2007 at 09:22 AM GMT-04:00
resourceinvestor.com
SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) -- China's primary aluminium and aluminium imports in the first two months of the year fell 13.5% to 148,752 tonnes, according to statistics released by the Customs General Administration yesterday.
Primary aluminium exports plunged 40.9% to 103,204 tonnes.
Imports of primary copper and copper products reached 468,849 tonnes in January and February, an increase of 56.2% compared with the same period last year.
Shanghai Futures Exchange copper futures closed up at RMB 58,610 ($7,565) on Tuesday after copper prices closed up $130 at $6,265 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange, following another fall in copper stockpiles at warehouses registered with the LME.
LME stocks fell 1,550 tonnes on Monday to 201,025 tonnes, their lowest since Jan. 23. LME stocks peaked above 216,000 tonnes in mid-February.
"Higher prices on the LME, combined with China's growing demand, sent the prices higher today," said analyst surnamed Yang at Huazheng Futures.
Aluminium futures also closed higher at RMB 19,570 ($2,526), but in thin trade amid the absence of fresh news to support the market.
"The market is suffering from a lack of funds currently," said analyst Yang
Commentary
Aluminium imports are being substituted with scrap imports in an ever increasing general trend. Falls in primary & alloy exports can be explained in part due to the recently imposed 15% export tax in Nov. 2006. Strong domestic demand, particularly in the transportation industry, is another factor.
However, the biggest impact is the massive increase in finished product exports which gained by more than 86% yoy in January at 129,145 tonnes. Unlike primary products, finished products attract an export rebate of up to 11%.
© Interfax-China 2007
This article comes from Interfax China Commodities Daily, a daily digest produced by Interfax News Agency in Mainland China. To receive 10 free copies of this, please e-mail david.harman@interfax-news.com. |
