China copper imports rebound

China's unwrought copper imports bounced back in July after two months of declines, jumping nearly 29% from June to the highest since January, while copper concentrate imports hit a record high, customs data showed yesterday. Factory activity in China, whose trade war with the United States has escalated over the past week, shrank for a third consecutive month in July, according to an official survey, in a bearish sign for the manufacturing sector that is a key source of copper demand. Benchmark London copper prices hit a two-year low of US$5 640 a tonne on Monday. Namibia exported about N$5.5 billion worth of copper in the first quarter of 2019, around N$3.3 billion to China. Photo Nampa/Reuters