China Nov refined copper imports up 15 percent

* Refined copper imports up 15 pct at 194,388 tonnes in Nov * Primary aluminium imports up 121.8 pct to 57,565 tonnes * Strong imports, record output boosts implied copper demand By Polly Yam HONG KONG, Dec 22 (Reuters) - China's refined copper imports rose 14.8 percent in November after a 40 percent fall in the previous month, on investor buying and the arrival of delayed shipments. Increased inflows and record domestic output boosted apparent consumption 12 percent on the month, with imports expected to keep rising after the arbitrage window to ship copper into China opened. "Buyers would take bonded copper stocks first, and then they would book fresh imports if Chinese prices stay high," Zhu Yanzhong, analyst at Jinrui Futures, said. Merchants had delayed shipments in September and October due to strong London Metal Exchange prices and abundant stocks in China, with the bulk of the delayed shipments expected to arrive in December-February. Imports of refined copper, the most popular in international and domestic markets, rose to 194,388 tonnes, up from October's 169,374 tonnes, data released by the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday showed. To see graphics for imports and apparent consumption, click: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/129/CN_CPRIMP1209.gif http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/129/CN_CPRDMD1209.gif Apparent consumption for refined copper rose to 584,422 tonnes, up from October's 539,550 tonnes, according to Reuters' calculations, based on net imports, production and Shanghai Futures Exchange's stocks. Traders said supplies of imported refined copper had already risen this week in Shanghai. But end-users' buying of spot copper had fallen following price rises in the past few days. "Spot sales have been horrible these two days. Prompt copper has been at a discount of 100-200 yuan per tonne from a premium last week," said a trader at a medium-sized copper smelter. ALUMINIUM, NICKEL UP Arrivals of contracted shipments also drove up imports of primary aluminium 121.8 percent on the month to 57,565 tonnes in November, the data showed. As with copper, merchants and investors had delayed or cancelled some shipments following weaker Chinese prices. But they were required to take the delayed shipments before the year end. Increased imports and record output drove apparent consumption to 1.3 million tonnes of primary aluminium in November, up 12.8 percent from October. Apparent consumption of nickel rose 11 percent on the month to 27,813 tonnes in November as a result of a 24 percent rise in monthly imports and record output of 21,606 tonnes. "Term arrivals boosted imports. Some of the imports are still stored in bonded warehouses since Chinese prices are weak," said a Shanghai-based nickel trader, who estimated more than 30,000 tonnes of imported refined nickel at bonded warehouses in the city. Nickel imports may fall in December from last month since some contracted shipments were delayed to January-February, he predicted. (Editing by Michael Urquhart)