China’s slowing demand for key commodities slowed noticeably in August, as volumes fell sharply in many cases.
China’s overall imports in August fell 13.8% from August 2014, much sharper than forecast, while exports performed slightly better than expected, down just 5.5% on a year ago.
In fact imports of commodities such as oil and iron ore fell in August compared with July, while imports of copper – considered a leading indicator for economic growth – were flat.
After reaching their highest level of 2015 in July, iron ore deliveries also fell further than expected in August, down 14% from July as China’s steel sector companies continue to struggle with weak demand and falling prices.
China imported 74.12 million tonnes in August, down sharply on the near record 86.10 million tonnes in July.
Coal imports fell nearly 18% from a 10-month high hit in July. China imported 17.49 million tonnes in August, down from 21.26 million tonnes in July as domestic miners kept slashing prices in a bid to maintain sales over the coming months, hinting at further falls in imports. August’s imports of coal were down 31.2% from a year earlier.
Crude oil shipments reached 6.26 million barrels per day in August, down 13.4% from July. Over the month, China imported 26.59 million tonnes in August, against 30.71 million tonnes in July.
Soybean deliveries slumped 18.1% from a record-peak set in July to 7.78 million tonnes, but that number is still 29% above than last year as Chinese companies take advantage of record volumes of cheap South American beans to build stocks.
However imports of copper (a much watched indicator) remained flat in August at 350,000 tonnes. Deliveries of the metal over the first eight months of the year have fallen 8.1% as demand has slowed.
