BEIJING: China’s copper imports fell 5.8% in September from a year earlier, customs data showed on Friday, as strong domestic production and limited demand weighed down appetite for overseas supplies.

Imports of unwrought copper and copper products, used widely in the construction, transport and power sectors, totalled 480,426 metric tons in September, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

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

The autumn season traditionally sees a pick-up in industrial activity after a summer lull and a jump in consumer spending around the Golden Week holiday season.

Orders for home appliances, electric vehicles, and the solar and wind sectors led to robust demand for copper.

But a slower-than-expected economic recovery amid a housing crisis is set to constrain demand growth, with analysts expecting October copper consumption to remain flat, also due to weak external demand.

Domestic production of refined copper has been strong this year, undermining activities to source the material from overseas markets.

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For the first nine months of 2023, China’s unwrought copper and copper products imports fell 9.5% to 3.99 million tons compared with a year earlier, the customs data showed.

However, rising production led to elevated copper ore and concentrate consumption.

China’s imports of copper ore and concentrate rose to 20.34 million tons in the first nine months, up 7.8% from September 2022.