HITS NEW RECORDS

Arabia and Venezuela — jumped about 10 per cent to average 8.43 million barrels a day last year, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed yesterday.

The unprecedented purchases may be bettered this year, if import quotas granted by the government to China’s independent refiners are a signal. The first batch of allocations was 75 per cent higher than for last year.

Record amounts of less-polluting grades of iron ore are being pulled in to feed the nation’s mammoth steel industry, with imports rising five per cent to 1.07 billion tonnes last year.

Purchases of less-polluting ore is only one tactic in China’s war against pollution. Another is curbing coal use and encouraging the use of cleaner natural gas instead. Imports of the fuel surged almost 27 per cent to 68.57 million tonnes last year.

As big farms have increased, so has demand for soyabeans. China’s inbound shipments of the oilseed jumped almost 14 per cent to a record 95.54 million tonnes last year.

The nation’s soya imports are forecast to grow to an unprecedented 97 million tonnes in the 12 months ending September, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

As the growing economy spurs construction of buildings and factories, China’s going to need more copper for the electrical wires and pipes that wind through its infrastructure.

Domestic mines are often small and can’t keep up with the pace at which capacity for refining the metal is expanding, boosting demand for overseas purchases of concentrate.

China’s copper ore and concentrate imports rose 2.3 per cent to a record 17.35 million tonnes last year. Demand growth for the overseas raw material will be sustained this year, according to Jia Zheng, a trader with Shanghai Minghong Investment Management Co. Bloomberg