China’s copper market slows in April, contained copper imports fall 20 pct

The copper market of China is indicating evident signs of deceleration. Net refined copper imports dropped 26 percent sequentially, whereas the contained copper imports dropped 20 percent sequentially in April. This is an estimate and aggregate of the total copper content of China’s imports.

Furthermore, imports of contained copper dropped 12 percent year-on-year, in line with a decelerating market at sub-3 percent year-on-year growth rates. These data are in line with the price forecasts of 255 c/lb for 2017 and 250 c/lb for the second half of 2017, noted Barclays in a research report.