China’s Copper imports drop – ING

China’s preliminary trade data for metals, released yesterday, showed imports of unwrought Copper fell 1.4% YoY to 467kt in March, ING's commodity experts Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson note.

COMEX Gold inventories are now starting to decline

"Cumulative imports fell 5.2% YoY to 1.3mt in the first three months of the year. The widening in the COMEX/LME arb likely drew more Copper shipments into the US rather than China. Meanwhile, Copper concentrate imports increased 2.7% YoY (+9.8% MoM) to 2.39mt in March, while year-to-date imports rose 1.8% YoY to total 7.1mt."

"On the export side, China’s unwrought Aluminium and Aluminium product shipments fell 1% YoY to 504.7kt last month. Cumulative shipments decreased 7.6% YoY to 1.4mt in the first three months of the year. Steel product exports increased 5.7% YoY to 10.46mt in March. This left cumulative Steel product exports at 27.4mt (+6.3% YoY) over the first three months of the year, amid increased global trade tensions."

"There are reports that the People’s Bank of China issued new Gold import quotas to commercial banks amid strong haven demand from investors as trade tensions increased. The central bank usually restricts physical bullion imports. Meanwhile, COMEX Gold inventories, which surged earlier this year on tariff concerns, are now starting to decline. This follows the Trump administration excluding Gold from tariffs."