china's copper imports jump to record

China’s Copper Imports Jump to Record Amid Funding Demand
By Bloomberg News Feb 12, 2014 4:11 PM ET 0 Comments Email Print


Refined copper imports by China, the biggest metals consumer, reached an all-time high last month as demand to use the metal as a means to get funding spurred purchases amid tight credit.

Arrivals of unwrought copper and copper products advanced 53 percent to 536,000 metric tons from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement today. That was 21 percent higher from a month earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Stronger demand from China may help curb a forecast global surplus and add support to futures in London that have lost 3.3 percent this year after a 7.2 percent slump in 2013. Trade financing involves using commodities such as copper as collateral to secure funding for other business.