Column: China’s commodity import trend driven by prices, not economy
China's imports of major commodities are often viewed through the prism of the performance of, and outlook for, the world's second-biggest economy.
Global copper smelting activity fell in June, resuming a downtrend seen earlier this year, data from satellite surveillance of metal processing plants showed on Tuesday, despite activity in China rising to its highest level since January 2021.
“Outside China, smelting activity weakened from May in all regions except for Asia & Oceania,” commodities broker Marex and the SAVANT satellite service said in a statement.
Earth-i, which specialises in observational data, tracks smelters representing 80-90% of global production. It sells data to fund managers, traders and miners. It also publishes a free monthly index of global copper smelter activity.
Its global dispersion index fell to 45.9 in June from 46.2 in May, while China smelting activity rose 3 points to 55.7.
A measure of 50 points indicates that smelters are operating at the average level of the past 12 months.
In nickel, the global dispersion index fell to 40.4 in June from 41.8 in May, the seventh consecutive monthly fall and its lowest level in a year.
The China nickel pig iron (NPI) dispersion index fell back to 44.0 from 47.1 in May, recording its fourth consecutive month below the average of 50.
(By Pratima Desai; Editing by David Evans)
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