China’s Copper Imports Decline in 2023

By Shubhendra Anand , 15 November, 2023

The world oil market suffered from supply cuts in 2023 as major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia cut supplies. China's market shows recovery signs in the manufacturing sector as per the survey reports in September 2023. China's unwrought copper supplies declined by 9.5 percent in 2023.

Based on the survey conducted by Purchasing Managers, the Chinese manufacturing market shows the initial signs of recovery with the factory activity. China imported larger volumes of crude oil in September 2023. In contrast, other energy commodity imports remain higher, and imports of copper (unwrought) also remain higher in September 2023. According to NASDAQ, copper imports declined by 5.8 percent in September 2022 due to robust domestic production and lesser demands reduced overseas supplies. Compared to 2022, China's unwrought copper and copper products declined by 9.5 percent to 3.99 million tons for the first time in 2023. Unwrought copper is used in various sectors, such as construction, power, transportation, and others. Together, these sectors made up 480,426 metric tons of imports of unwrought copper in September 2023, as per the survey data. The survey also considered refined, alloy, anode, and semi-furnished copper. As consumer spending grows, orders from electric vehicles, solar & wind sectors, home appliances, and others see a rising demand for copper.

The domestic production of copper in China will be firm in 2023; therefore, increased production levels will result in rising copper ore and concentrate consumption. Thus, China's copper imports have fallen due to robust domestic production in 2023.