China's copper imports fell 18.7% in January compared to December's record high as public holidays slowed trade but analysts said the amount was more than expected because of bigger orders the previous month.

China's markets were closed for 3 days to mark the beginning of the year and then again for the week long Lunar New Year holidays.

Mr Stefan Graber analyst at Credit-Suisse Private Banking said that "The drop in imports is not unexpected and reflects a moderating economic environment in China."

Traders said that Chinese importers had placed many orders for spot refined copper in December due to improved arbitrage buying from the London Metal Exchange and selling on the Shanghai market.

Investors and merchants had also rushed to use up their 2011 credit lines before the end of last year and the bulk of those December bookings had arrived last month. Domestic demand however was lower in January because most copper processors shut down for the Lunar New Year.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that copper imports including anode, refined, alloys and semi finished products amounted to 413,964 tonnes in January 2012 versus a record 508,942 tonnes in December 2011.

Mr Xiao Jing analyst at Beijing Capital Futures said that "The monthly fall was expected due to the two holidays last month but the figure was still higher than we had expected given the weak domestic demand. The relatively strong inflows were mainly because buyers had booked the metal earlier when the arbitrage was good and the shipments arrived in January."

(Sourced from Reuters)