China’s copper imports increased in the first quarter of the year to 363,718mt from 209,773mt in Q1 2020, according to the country’s Customs data.
Copper shipments to China almost doubled in March to 171,996mt, up 91pc from 90,252mt in the same prior-year month. Compared to February, copper scrap imports surged by 114pc.
The UK was the only country to report a drop in copper scrap shipments to China in March, down 41pc to 4,641mt from 7,926mt in the same month last year. Malaysia, Japan, and the US were the top three copper scrap exporting countries to China last month.
The biggest growth in copper scrap shipments was reported from the US, which shipped 24,199mt of copper scrap to China last month, growing four times from 5,091mt shipped in March 2020. Still, Malaysia remained the top copper scrap exporter to the Asian nation which is the biggest consumer of copper scrap in the world.
In March, China imported 34,276mt of scrap from Malaysia, up 125pc from 15,266mt in the same month last year. During the same period, Japan shipped 28,745mt of scrap, up 95pc from 14,952mt.
Malaysia, Japan, and the US grew their shipments by 94, 95pc, and 100pc, respectively, compared to February, the Chinese Customs data noted.