China’s imports of commodities recorded relatively strong growth in February, although the Chinese New Year holidays saw levels drop from January. On a YTD (Jan-Feb) basis, all commodities bar copper recorded strong double-digit growth rates, indicating demand remains strong.

Iron ore imports stood out, climbing 13.4 percent y/y. This was despite some weather-related disruptions to exports in Australia. Crude oil imports were relatively unchanged from February 2016, but were up 12.5 percent y/y for Jan-Feb. This was mirrored in the growth in exports of refined oil products, as Chinese refineries target international markets.

Copper was the only major commodity to show some weakness, with imports of refined copper and products falling 19 percent y/y to 340kt. This was partly mitigated by strong copper concentrate imports and subsequent surge in domestic copper production.

"With supply sides disruptions in various oil and metal markets increasing in frequency in recent weeks, we expect imports of refined products to improve in March. In particular, with two of the largest copper mines currently closed, we suspect refined copper imports will pick up in coming months," ANZ Research commented in its latest research report.