China commodities imports resume but demand weak

China's commodities imports generally rose in March on a month earlier as shipments resumed after the Lunar New Year holiday, but analysts pointed to still weak demand for goods ranging from iron ore to coal and soybeans.
Overall trade data showed China's total exports shrank 15 percent in a surprise drop that will exacerbate concerns about the slackening Chinese economy.
The world's top buyer of iron ore imported 80.51 million tonnes of the steelmaking ingredient in March, up 18.5 percent from the previous month as producers flooded the market and prices fell. First quarter shipments rose 2 percent but the pace of growth was down from 19 percent a year earlier.
"With demand in China continuing to slow, iron ore piled up at Chinese ports has remained at high levels," said Hu Xiaodong, an analyst at Nanhua Futures in Hangzhou.
Coal imports rose 11.6 percent in March on the previous month but were down 42 percent in the first quarter as tepid demand and tighter quality checks sliced shipments.
After taking into account the shorter month and week-long holiday in February, underlying coal demand appeared to have fallen in March, said Zhang Xiaojin, an analyst at Everbright Futures in Zhengzhou.
Copper imports climbed steeply in March, jumping 46.4 percent due to favourable price differentials between the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai, traders said. Imports fell 17.1 percent to 1.1 million tonnes in the first quarter.
China, the world's largest soy buyer, purchased 5.4 percent more soybeans in March than the month before, in a shift to cheaper South American supplies which will further drive up shipment volumes in the second quarter.
Buyers booked larger volumes for delivery in the first quarter as they sought to take advantage of low prices, said Monica Tu, analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence.
"Demand is actually pretty bad, in many places feed demand in the first two months declined," she said.
China's crude imports bucked the trend, falling on a daily basis in March to 6.3 million barrels per day (bpd), down 5.2 percent from Feburary.
On a year earlier, imports rose a lower-than-expected 14 percent in March, as domestic oil production has remained flat and demand for refined fuel products held at near-record levels in recent months.
With global oil prices at their lowest levels in six years, China has also been adding to its strategic reserves, although some analysts say China could be running out of storage space and that imports could pull back.