China Oct copper imports fall 34 pct on stocks,output

* China copper imports fall a lower than expected 34 pct * Oct imports of unwrought copper, semis at 263,109 T * Domestic supply stays abundant on record output, stocks By Polly Yam HONG KONG, Nov 11 (Reuters) - China's copper imports fell a larger-than-expected 34 percent in October, but supply in the world's top copper market stayed abundant following record production and high bonded stocks built up in the last two months. High stocks and the closure of arbitrage -- buying from the London Metal Exchange and selling in the domestic market -- not only discouraged spot purchases but also prompted Chinese merchants to delay contracted shipments due to arrive last month. After reaching an unexpectedly high level of 399,052 tonnes in September, imports of unwrought copper and semi-finished copper products fell to 263,109 tonnes in October, data from China's Customs office showed on Wednesday. But imports still rose 13.8 percent from a year earlier. Analysts and traders had expected the October inflow to fall about 19 percent from September. "Given the perception that China will continue to drive metals demand for some time, these kind of numbers are slightly worrying," said Darren Heathcote, analyst at Investec Bank (Australia). "We've already got some pretty high stock levels out there, so this is likely to cause a bit of a stir today," he added. Liang Zhigang, analyst at Minmetals StarFutures in Shenzhen, estimated the imports included about 180,000 tonnes of refined copper, the most popular type of copper in international and Chinese markets. Imports of refined copper alone will not be released until late November. Some of October's refined copper imports might have been put into bonded warehouses, Liang said, and added that November imports were unlikely to rise given weaker Chinese prices, compared with the cost of imports. At least 300,000 tonnes of imported copper are stored in bonded warehouses in Shanghai, out of which two-thirds were built in the September-October period. The bonded stocks were already calculated as imports in China, although they have not been declared to the customs because of taxes. But China's refined copper production hit a record for the second straight month as smelters geared up to meet their yearly output plans, said Zhu Yanzhong, analyst at Jinrui Futures, a subsidiary of top smelter Jiangxi Copper. Refined copper production rose 1.1 percent on the month to 399,300 tonnes in October, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed. The monthly growth slowed from a 8.2 percent rise in September. Most smelters were running full rates and that would keep production at high levels in November, Zhu said, adding that supply of copper scrap had increased, supporting strong output. But domestic scrap supply could fall soon, following a 36 percent decline in imports in October as a result of high LME prices. ALUMINIUM Imports of unwrought aluminium and semi-finished aluminium products halved to 86,611 tonnes in October from September's 195,877 tonnes due to high stocks and weaker domestic prices. The imports are expected to include around 52,000 tonnes of primary aluminium. Although China is the world's top producer and consumer of the primary metal, its imports hit a record in the first half when the arbitrage widened. "Bonded aluminium stocks in Guangzhou city should be around 150,000 tonnes," a warehouse source said. The stocks were nearly the level of combined imports in September and October. Chinese production of primary aluminium hit a record for the second straight month to 1.26 million tonnes in October, up 4.4 percent on the month and 17.1 percent on the year as smelters restarted idle capacity and opened new capacity on firm prices. (Additional reporting by Beijing commodities team) (Editing by Clarence Fernandez) f