UPDATE 1-China Aug copper imports down 20 pct on mth

* China's copper imports fell for a second straight month * Aluminium imports, exports both fell * Scrap copper, aluminium imports down in August SHANGHAI, Sept 11 - China's August imports of unwrought copper and products fell 20 percent from July, for a second consecutive month of decline after record high levels of imports in the year's first half. China imported 325,098 tonnes of unwrought copper and semi-finished copper products in August. Copper scrap imports declined 13 percent to 390,000 tonnes, the General Administration of Customs said on Friday. That took total copper imports in the first eight months to 2.97 million tonnes, up 75.8 percent from a year ago, the data showed. Five months of record buying that ended in June pushed up China's copper inventories, and helped keep domestic prices below the cost of imports for much of August. "A lot is to do with the differential between LME and Shanghai," said Ben Westmore, a commodities economist at National Australia Bank. "There is a feeling that the restocking process may be coming to the end." He added, "We are at a point now where industrial production is very strong but many manufacturers are well-stocked and have slowed their purchases. For the next two months we could see additional moderation in imports before a pick-up back towards the trend base around 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes." Imports of unwrought aluminium, including primary and alloy, plus semi-finished aluminium products, fell 15 percent in August from July to 189,749 tonnes. Scrap aluminium imports fell 18 percent percent to 280,000 tonnes. The customs is due to release detailed figures on imports of refined copper later in the month.