China's March copper imports fall as higher US prices attract more shipments

SHANGHAI, April 14 (Reuters) - China's imports of unwrought copper and copper products in March declined 1.4% from a year earlier to 467,000 metric tons, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.

For the first three months in 2025, copper imports were down 5.2% at 1.37 million tons, the data showed.

The year-on-year decline in March was attributed to higher copper prices in the U.S., after President Donald Trump began an investigation into copper imports. The higher prices have led to more refined copper shipments to the U.S. instead of China.

The data includes anode, refined, alloy and semi-finished copper products.

Deliverable copper stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange CU-STX-SGH stood at 235,296 tons on March 28, a 12% decrease from the 268,337 tons recorded on February 28.

Imports of copper concentrate stood at 2.39 million tons for March, up 2.6% from the corresponding period last year, customs data showed.