China July copper imports down 23 pct, remain high

* China July copper imports fall 23 pct vs June record * Primary aluminium imports halve to 131,724 t vs June By Polly Yam and Nick Trevethan HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Aug 24 (Reuters) - China's refined copper imports fell by 23 percent and primary aluminium by 51 percent in July, as a higher global price and seasonal lull in manufacturing put the brakes on the record imports of the first half. Although down by almost a quarter from June, July's copper imports are still the fifth largest on record and remain more than threefold the same month last year, meaning the key driver of the more than doubling of London Metal Exchange prices this year hasn't necessarily come unstuck. "There are seasonal factors in these numbers. Some of the decline in July from June is due to the summer lull in manufacturing activity," said Ben Westmore, commodities economist at National Australia Bank. "I have fallen into the camp that a lot of the apparent demand for metals is to do with real demand, not just arbitraging or stockpiling. We could see moderation down towards 250,000 tonnes, but that's still a big number on an historical basis." Imports of refined copper fell to 292,226 tonnes in July from 378,943 tonnes in June, and are up almost 170 percent in the first seven months of the year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday. China's apparent demand for refined copper fell by 10 percent in July to about 630,000 tonnes from June after imports dipped, Reuters calculations based on official data showed. Apparent demand in July 2008 was around 410,000 tonnes. Year-to-date, demand rose 47 percent to 4.28 million tonnes. [ID:nSP510990] The data suggests the collapse of the arbitrage window -- buying from the London Metal Exchange and selling to Shanghai -- also slowed imports. Shanghai copper has tended to trade at a discount to London since early June. On Monday the benchmark contract in the eastern Chinese city was 1,500 yuan less than its LME equivalent, accounting for China's 17 percent Value Added Tax. Analysts and traders had expected July's imports to fall by between 10 and 30 percent. "Merchants, end users and speculators reduced spot imports as that had no margins," Zhu Yanzhong, analyst at Jinrui Futures, said, who had expected an imports number of around 320,000 tonnes. Most fabricators' production and their demand for refined copper had also fallen in the summer, but may be set to rise again, traders said. "Our orders for September delivery have risen from August, when orders dropped 3,000-4,000 tonnes from July," a trader at a copper tube producer said, adding the firm's July orders had done unexpectedly well. Apparent aluminium demand fell 13.4 percent in July to 1.19 million tonnes after a 50 percent slump in imports. However, in the first seven months of the year, imports are up a huge 1,481 percent, while demand is up just 5.6 percent in the same period. Imports of primary aluminium dropped to 131,724 tonnes in July from June's 267,861 tonnes and April's record. Traders said strong LME prices had reduced spot imports of primary aluminium in July. But the prices were spurring exporters to boost sales of alloy and semi-finished aluminium products to earn tax rebates on those products.