China's copper import landscape painted a complex picture as 2025 unfolded. December wrapped with unwrought copper at 437K MT, but the year-end tally tells a different story—full-year imports dropped 6.4% to 5.32M MT according to trade data. Meanwhile, ore and concentrate shipments took the opposite trajectory. The same December saw 2.7M MT flowing in, while annual figures jumped 7.9% higher at 30.31M MT.

What's driving this divergence? Supply chain dynamics are shifting. Lower refined copper demand contrasts with surging appetite for raw materials and concentrates, suggesting traders and processors are hedging differently as market conditions tighten. This mix of softening refined imports yet climbing concentrate inflows signals a recalibration across commodity corridors—something worth watching if you're tracking macro inflation expectations or inflation-hedged asset positioning.