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The Copper and Brass Fabricators Council said that US imports of brass mill products in May declined by 34.9% y-o-y to 35,348,294 lbs whilst exports plummeted by 43.9% y-o-y to 16,120,361 lbs. The leading exports destination in May was Canada and most imports came from China. Imports of flat rolled products reached 6,855,548 lbs, while exports amounted to 5,671,217 lbs. Imports of tube products were 20,966,908 lbs and exports 5,259,454 lbs. Rods, bars and sections imports were 5,810,096 lbs whilst exports 3,628,657 lbs. Finally, imported alloy wire added up to 1,715,743 lbs and exports totalled 1,561,033 lbs.

According to the United States International Trade Commission, US copper imports in November rose by 2.5% m-o-m to 50,992 tonnes, compared with 49,737 tonnes in October. The rise in the imported quantity of copper is not attributed to an increase in physical demand for the red metal, but to the narrowing Comex-LME arbitrage ratio that favoured imports. The physical demand for copper is suffering from ongoing weakness due to the downturn in the US construction, manufacturing and automotive industries. As a result, in the first 11 months of 2008 US copper imports have contracted by 14.2% to 661,918 tonnes, compared to 771,125 tonnes in the same period of 2007.

According to data from Chinese Customs, Chinese final imports of refined copper totalled 238,828t in December, a fall of 4 7% m-o-m from November, and the second lowest reading of 2012. Despite this, full-year imports of refined copper in 2012 surged to their highest year on record, at 3.4Mt, as a result of the large volumes of copper being imported on long term contracts in 2012. While the pickup in imports of refined copper was strong in 2012, demand from downstream users did not match the pickup in imports. According to a report from Reuters, this has resulted in large amounts of cathode sitting in bonded warehouses rather than being absorbed by the domestic market.

Chinese imports of unwrought copper and copper semi-manufactured products fell 38.5% y-o-y in February to 298,102t, although this was partially distorted by the timing of this year's Chinese New Year holiday. Year-to-date imports of unwrought copper, a measure less distorted by the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday, fell by 27.8% y-o-y from the same period a year earlier to 649,062t. According to a report from Reuters, Chinese importers have signed less annual contracted volumes in 2013 and imports of refined copper are expected to be at lower levels for the remainder of the year.

China's imports of unwrought copper and semi-copper products were down almost 13% month on month in June and by 18% year on year. This downturn in imports is said to have been expected, as June is traditionally a slower month for copper consumption. It does not therefore necessarily mean a downturn in Chinese demand especially as China has been importing increasing amounts of copper concentrates and scrap over the past few months. Over 1.3 million tonnes of unwrought copper and semi-copper products were imported to China in the first six months of 2008, a year on year decrease of 12%. It is believed that stocks have built up in warehouses following too many imports in 2007. Chinese copper imports are however expected to recover towards the end of July and August and will be assisted also by the running down of the built up stocks in the warehouses.

Chinese imports of copper and copper semi-finished products contracted by 3% m-o-m to 254,738t in May 2011, according to customs statistics.  The figure was also down by 36% from the same period a year ago.  Import volumes were below the expectations of market participants who had predicted that a narrowing arbitrage between import costs and Chinese prices would lead to an increase in imports.

Chinese imports of copper and copper products fell by 39.8% y-o-y to 262,676t in April 2011. Moreover, April imports contracted by 13.7% m-o-m. On the other hand, imports of copper scrap increased by 2.7% y-o-y to 380,000t in April, but fell by 2.6% m-o-m. January to April imports of copper and copper products amounted to 1.2Mt, which represents a fall of 22.6% y-o-y. Conversely, January to April imports of copper scrap rose by 1.9% to 1.4Mt from the same period in 2010.

Figures released by the General Administration of Customs indicate that Chinese imports of refined copper rose by 8.8% m-o-m in July to reach this year's monthly peak level of 192kt. However, July's imports still represent a decline of 13.5% y-o-y and a year-to-date contraction of 30%. The month on month rise is attributed to the favourable SHFE/LME arbitrage during May and June. However, it remains to be seen whether the import figure indicates stronger Chinese copper consumer demand. Imports of copper scrap rose to 432kt in July, up by 14.2% y-o-y, which brought the total year-to-date figure up to 2.63Mt, up by 9.1% y-o-y.

Preliminary Chinese trade data for November showed that imports of unwrought copper totalled 365,331t in November, up 13 5% m-o-m from October; partially driven by seasonal effects from the week-long Chinese October holiday. Year to date imports of unwrought copper reached 4.31Mt, up 20.8% compared to the first 11 months of 2011. Imports of copper scrap totalled 470,000t in November, up 20.5% from October. Year to date imports of copper scrap also showed increases on the precious year, reaching 4.4Mt, a 4.1% increase on January-November 2011.

According to data from China Customs, Chinese imports of semi-finished copper products amounted to 51,900t in November, a slight increase from October's 51,000t but down 17.6% y-o-y. Compared to 2011, Chinese January-November semis imports were down 14.7% at 613,400t as the ramp-up in domestic semis production in China reduced the demand for foreign produced semis. China customs also reported that cathode imports rebounded in November to 250,666t, up 8.7% from October.

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Copper prices tumbled to a five-week low Thursday on expectations that falling demand from China and a slowdown in the U.S. housing market will lead to a surplus of the metal. Other commodities traded mixed, with crude oil rebounding slightly and gold, silver and soybeans falling. Corn and wheat futures rose. China, the world's biggest buyer of copper, has been importing less of the metal since the completion of most major construction projects heading into the Beijing summer Olympics. Copper imports in June fell 20 percent compared to May, China's custom's agency said this month. As a result, stockpiles of the metal have swelled in Shanghai and London, helping drive down prices.

According to the General Administration of Customs, Chinese imports of copper and copper products registered a 6.7% y-o-y and 2.0% m-o-m decline to 344,558t in December 2010. The November figure had seen a 21% y-o-y increase. The fall in imports is partially attributed to soaring copper prices, which discouraged downstream buyers from stocking copper. In addition, the negative arbitrage window between SHFE and LME did not trigger Chinese imports. However, imports may rebound in Q1 2011 on anticipation of increased domestic demand after the Chinese New Year.

Chinese imports of refined copper and copper semis plunged by 35.4% m-o-m to 235,469t in February, the lowest level in 25 months. Imports were also down by 26.9% from the same period a year ago. Analysts were expecting that monthly imports would fall, given that buying activity was impacted by the Chinese New Year. However, the outcome was worse than anticipated, partly attributed to demand concerns generated by soaring oil prices and tighter credit control.

Figures released by the General Administration of Customs indicate that total imports of copper blister, cathode, alloys and semis amounted to 280kt, down by 15% y-o-y but up sequentially by 9.9% in June 2011. Over the period from January to June 2011, copper imports contracted to 1.7Mt, down by 24% y-o-y. The rise in copper imports over the previous month is thought to be attributed to a narrowing price gap between the SHFE and LME cathode spot markets as well as the use of copper imports as collateral for credit.

According to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs, China's February imports of unwrought copper fell by 38.5% y/y to 298,102t. Whilst partly due to the later-than-usual timing of the Chinese New Year holiday, the combined figure for January and February declined by 27.8% y/y. Imports have been trending downwards since the first quarter of 2012 and the February reading is the lowest since June 2011.

According to data from China Customs, Chinese imports of unwrought copper rose slightly in January to 350,958t, a 2.9% m-o-m increase from 341,211t in December. According to a report from the Shanghai Metals Market, the slight improvement in the arbitrage between Chinese domestic prices, and LME prices, may have been responsible for the increase in imports. The report also said that some semis manufacturers have become more confident about the business environment and may increase consumption in the future.

Despite the small drop in March copper imports, overall imports of copper to China remain at a high level. This may seem somewhat surprising in the light of the deeply unfavourable arbitrage, a deteriorating short-term consumption outlook and high inventory levels. CRU suggests that much of the material is imported by traders into bonded warehouses, who may be using copper as a financing mechanism to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities in other markets, such as in the RMB and interest rates. Bonded warehouses allow traders to easily re-export material out of China without incurring major costs, such as VAT. This allows them to take swift aversive action in case the outlook on Chinese consumption weakens further, while benefitting from the export-friendly arbitrage window. The slower growth in scrap imports is more reflective of the negative arbitrage and the temporary easing of the concentrates market following outages at PASAR's Leyte smelter and PPC's Saganoseki smelter.