You can't handle the truth! Your position:Home->china news-> Metal Imports Raise Records and Eyebrows of China China’s imports of copper and iron ore set fresh records in April even amid the global downturn, raising the risks that the domestic market will see a flood of unwanted supply. Customs data Tuesday showed China imported 399,833 metric tons of copper and related products, up 62% on year and beating the previous record set just in March. Iron ore imports also rose to a new record of 57 million tons, up 33% on year. But the rise in commodity imports, driven mainly by government stockpiling and arbitrage to take advantage of higher Chinese domestic prices for some goods, should not be mistaken for signs of a recovery in real demand, analysts said. There are positive economic indicators in China, such as surging car sales, higher-than-expected fixed asset investment and signs of stabilization in manufacturing. But with final demand for raw materials yet to convincingly pick up, there is an increasing possibility that the recent rally in global commodity prices which has been driven mainly by Chinese demand - could start to evaporate. Copper prices, for example, have weakened over the last month after a sustained rally since the start of the year as China’s stockpiles of the metal have risen. “We can’t digest that much copper in such a short time,” said Zhu Bin, head of research for Nanhua Futures. “We might now see a period of price correction, especially for copper.” Similarly, analysts say rising iron ore imports mainly reflect steel mills’ desire to take advantage of low spot market prices. Yet China’s steel industry remains in rough shape, reporting 3.3 billion yuan in losses in the first quarter, compared with a 44.1 billion yuan profit in the same period last year. The impact of rising domestic stocks could start showing up in slowing import demand from June, analysts said. “We believe these signs will start to build and may first appear in a drop in Chinese import figures,” Deutsche Bank said in a note. Chuin-Wei Yap Contact Us-------------------------------------ddpcn.com * Required information Full Name: * Your Email: * Message:* Preview:PetroChina Sees Opening      Next:China Likely To Surpass How to Lead in a Crisis Cheap Pork Could Become Costly in China China To Replace Chief Of CCTV China Ahead Of Curve On Derivative Oversight China Likely To Surpass US In Online Game Mkt PetroChina Sees Opening for Deals Consumption Conundrum of China IEA Casts Doubt on China Interesting facts about China Facts about China