Hong Kong (Platts)--25Feb2013/524 am EST/1024 GMT
Reduced demand from importers who use copper as collateral for borrowing money, as well as poor arbitrage trade opportunities, trimmed China's January refined copper imports, Beijing Antaike, the state-run metals consultancy said Monday. China imported 243,174 mt refined copper in January, down 28% from the same period last year, the latest customs figures showed. "A key reason for the lower import volume in January was that in January last year a lot of copper imported was from those seeking materials as collateral for seeking funds, whereas this year this has not been the case so much," He Xiaohui, a copper analyst with Antaike said. Due to the poor arbitrage trade opportunities in recent months, Antaike predicted China's copper imports in February were likely to be lower than in January. Article continues below...Metals Daily now available on Platts Market CenterPlatts Metals Daily is now available for subscribers on Platts Market Center, an interactive website featuring Platts news, market commentaries, proprietary price assessments and archived content, as well as the daily PDF. PMC will also make available several key US benchmark assessments to subscribers earlier in the US day than with the current PDF-only delivery mode. PMC also includes archived proprietary prices and a custom graphing feature. PMC offers a mobile version viewable on PDAs and smart phones. For further information on registration, please contact Customer Care: support@platts.com
Reduced demand from importers who use copper as collateral for borrowing money, as well as poor arbitrage trade opportunities, trimmed China's January refined copper imports, Beijing Antaike, the state-run metals consultancy said Monday. China imported 243,174 mt refined copper in January, down 28% from the same period last year, the latest customs figures showed. "A key reason for the lower import volume in January was that in January last year a lot of copper imported was from those seeking materials as collateral for seeking funds, whereas this year this has not been the case so much," He Xiaohui, a copper analyst with Antaike said. Due to the poor arbitrage trade opportunities in recent months, Antaike predicted China's copper imports in February were likely to be lower than in January.
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Platts Metals Daily is now available for subscribers on Platts Market Center, an interactive website featuring Platts news, market commentaries, proprietary price assessments and archived content, as well as the daily PDF. PMC will also make available several key US benchmark assessments to subscribers earlier in the US day than with the current PDF-only delivery mode. PMC also includes archived proprietary prices and a custom graphing feature. PMC offers a mobile version viewable on PDAs and smart phones. For further information on registration, please contact Customer Care: support@platts.com
Imported copper trade could incur losses of Yuan 1,500-2,000/mt ($241-321) in late January, according to Chinese copper industry analysts. However, Antaike's He said March copper imports are likely to show an increase over January due to increased activity following the break for Chinese Lunar New Year.--Joshua Leung, newsdesk@platts.com--Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan_fox@platts.com
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