Reuters reported that Japan's June exports of copper cathode to China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal, nearly doubled from the same month a year ago.

Customs data from the Ministry of Finance showed that the strong gains came off a low base a year ago, when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake damaged smelters in the world's third biggest refined copper producer, prompting them to sharply curtail exports in the 3 months through June.

Japan's exports of cathode to China rose 95% in June to 17,248 tonnes accounting for 40% of Japan's cathode exports. Japan's total exports of refined copper which also include billet and others jumped 160% to 71,368 tonnes in June.

Source - Reuters

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