China's commodity import volumes fell in February but this was hardly surprising given the long midmonth holiday.
China's total import bill fell by 20.5% y/y in February, after a similar 19.7% decline in January, mainly due to low commodity prices. However, focus is more on commodity import volumes, which were softer last month due to the holiday, but are holding up.
In particular, imports of iron ore and oil were growing strongly in year-on-year terms in February. Copper imports, however, have fallen sharply since the start of this year. Of course, some of the weakness can be explained by the holiday last month.
Capital Economics notes as follows on Monday:
- We expect demand to start recovering in March, boosted by low prevailing prices.
- Import volumes generally fell in the holiday month of February but we will have to wait until the March data for a clearer picture of Chinese commodity import trends.
