Imports of copper into China, the world's biggest consumer of the refined metal, rose in 2005 for the second year in three as faster economic growth spurred demand for cables and electric wires.

The country increased purchases 1.3 percent to 1.3 million metric tons, the General Customs Administration of China said in Beijing yesterday. Imports fell 12 percent in 2004 and gained 15 percent in 2003.

"The increase may seem small but the fact that imports rose despite the high prices and a jump in domestic production showed that China's consumption grew well," said Cai Luoyi, head of research at China International Futures (Shanghai) Co, said.

Demand for cables and pipes made of copper rose as China's economy, the world's fastest-growing, expanded 9.9 percent last year. China, which relies on imports for one-third of its refined copper demand, helped push global copper prices to a record in 2005 with rising demand.

China's copper imports in December fell 39 percent to 65,342 tons.

The drop in December's imports was due to users cutting purchases as prices rose while the State Reserve Bureau held auctions that increased domestic supply, said Zhou Feng, a senior economist at the Information Centre of China Minmetals Corp, the country's biggest metals trader.

The bureau, China's stockpiling agency, sold 51,160 tons of copper in four weekly auctions between November and December.

Copper prices rose 3.5 percent in December to a record annual closing price of US$4,395 a ton on the London Metal Exchange. Prices have risen 52 percent in the past year.

Copper exports rose 13 percent to 140,536 tons in the year. Exports in December climbed 17 times to 39,965 tons.

In 2004, China's copper imports fell because the bureau had bought the metal and stocked up in 2003, Zhou said.

The country exported 1.3 million tons of aluminium last year, a 22 percent drop from a year earlier, customs said. Exports in December were 63 percent lower at 92,017 tons.

China imposed a 5 percent tax on aluminium exports last year, and a government curb in the industry slowed production and reduced exports. China is the world's biggest producer of aluminium used in window frames, automobiles and airplanes.

"China's aluminium net exports may further drop in 2006, due to production cuts by local smelters," Wang Feihong, a senior analyst with Beijing Antaike Information Development Co said.

China is the world's biggest producer of aluminium used in window frames, automobiles and airplanes.

Imports of copper concentrates, the raw material used to make copper, rose 41 percent 4.1 million tons. Imports of alumina, the raw material used to make aluminium, increased 19 percent to 7 million tons.

(China Daily January 26, 2006)