China's apparent consumption of copper increased 2.4 percent in the first five months of this year, much lower than the 28.66 percent growth in the same period of last year.

     Earlier, industry analysts have adjusted the forecast of China's demand for copper from the former two-digit growth to one-digit.

     According to statistics from the customs, China, the biggest copper production and consumption country in the world, turned out 1. 4886 million tons of copper in the first five months, rising 19.1 percent which was higher than the 11.5 percent growth in the same period last year.

     But import of copper was only 486,400 tons, dropping 26.34 percent year on year. The import surged 2.68 times in the same period last year. Import of unforged copper and copper products dropped 11.6 percent as compared with sharp rise of 58.48 percent.

     China's output of refined copper is forecast to exceed 3.80 million tons in 2008, an increase of about 10 percent year on year.