China imported 3,125t refined tin in July, up by 333% year-on-year and 31% compared to June. Total refined tin imports were 16,706t in January-July this year, more than three times the imports of 5,526t in the same period of last year. Of the total for the year to date, 8,470t was from Indonesia, and is thought to be re-refined in China; 6,105t refined tin was from Malaysia, most of which is believed to have been shipped from LME warehouses there. Ores and concentrate imports were also strong, up by more than 22-fold at some 4,000t, and YTD imports were up by 36%. Most ore and concentrate imports were from Burma and Bolivia.
It seems to be a contradiction that imports to China were strong in recent months despite weak demand there. The boom is explained by falling production and the fact that the domestic market always reacts slowly to the changes of LME price because of its unique characteristics. As a natural deficit market, the China domestic price always lags rapid falls in LME price and usually needs some time (2-3 weeks) to move back in line. This creates space and time for arbitrage imports. More international traders seem to be targeting this business and can move metal as long as they offer sufficiently competitive prices. However, the big volume imports this year have more than offset the decrease in Chinese production, resulting in a continuing stocks rise.
