Instant view: China's February commodity imports fall across the board

(Reuters) - China’s imports of major commodities fell across the board in February from a month earlier, according to official data released on Friday. The Lunar New Year holiday fell in early February this year.

KEY POINTS:

* Copper: China imported 311,000 tonnes, versus 479,000 tonnes in January

* Crude oil: China imported 39.23 million tonnes, versus 42.6 million tonnes in January

* Iron ore: China imported 83.08 million tonnes, versus 91.26 million tonnes in January

* Soybeans: China imported 4.46 million tonnes, versus 7.38 million tonnes in January

* Coal: China imported 17.64 million tonnes of coal, versus 33.5 million tonnes in January

Commentary on soybeans

TIAN HAO, SENIOR ANALYST, FIRST FUTURES:

“The low figures were still mainly because of tariffs on U.S. soybeans.

“Importers did not buy lots of Brazilian beans recently either, as they were waiting to buy U.S. soybeans, amid optimism of a final Sino-U.S. trade deal. What is more, there were no commercial benefits to bring in Brazilian soybeans as demand was flat due to African swine fever outbreaks.”

Commentary on coal

GEORGE HUANG, ANALYST, FALCON INFO, GUANGHZHOU:

“Feburary imports were surprisingly low, but I am expecting arrivals in March and April to pick up because utilities stepped up bookings last month. With that being said, I don’t think customs will relax restrictions and scrutiny on foreign coal, especially regarding Australian supplies.”

Commentary on oil

SENG-YICK TEE, SIA ENERGY:

“New plants are one factor, but the strong crude imports are also a reflection of fundamental demand support from the property sector and the speed-up in infrastructure building.”

Commentary on copper

CHRIS WU, COPPER CONSULTANT, CRU, BEIJING

“The arbitrage is closed. Also, some copper fabricators took longer than planned holidays for their operations last month – longer than last year.”

Commentary on iron ore

FAN LU, ANALYST FROM SINOSTEEL FUTURES:

“Mills typically replenish their stocks ahead of the holiday, which leads to an obvious increase on imports in January and a dip in February.

“The sharp drop on February iron ore also came as major iron ore suppliers reduced shipment due to hurricane weather.”

LINKS:

For details, see the official Customs website(www.customs.gov.cn)

BACKGROUND:

China is the world’s biggest net crude oil consumer and topbuyer of copper, coal, iron ore and soy.

(For a graphic on China commodity import data - bit.ly/2UmM4AZ)

Reporting by Asia Commodities and Energy team; Editing by Richard Pullin