Chinese copper imports rise December maximum since March 2016, but annual shipments fall. Jan 14 (Reuters) - Chinese imports of raw copper grew by 9.1% in December compared to the previous month and peaked since March 2016, according to customs data released on Tuesday, as increased industrial activity and the dwindling offer Scrap metal raised demand.
Purchases of raw copper, including copper anodes, refined and semi-finished products of the nation, the world's largest consumer of red metal, totaled 527,000 tons in December, figures from the General Customs Administration.
The figure is compared with the 483,000 tons in November, which was already a maximum of 13 months, and represents an increase of 22.8% compared to December 2018.
Chinese copper imports rise December maximum
The striking December numbers were partly due to favorable price arbitrage between copper values internationally and in China, which allowed operators to make profits by entering the metal into China, said Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong
Manufacturing activity in China grew last month at signs of progress in the trade dialogue with the United States that improved factory production and supported order books.
Quotas for importing copper scrap were exhausted by the end of 2019, although China's own refined copper production hit a record high in November.
Imports of unprocessed copper for all of 2019 totaled 4.98 million tons, a 6% reduction from the record ceiling of 5.3 million tons in 2018.
The annual decline was due to weak import levels in the first half of 2019, said Lau, who expects "solid" imports in the first six months of this year, an increase from a low base.
Imports of copper concentrate, the raw material used by smelters to generate refined metal, totaled 1,928 million tons last month, down 10.6% from the record of 2,157 million tons in November, but up 31 , 8% compared to December 2018.
Imports for all of 2019 grew 11.6% to 21.99 million tons, comfortably exceeding the previous record of 19.72 million tons in 2018.
Judicial reform in Mexico seeks to use wiretapping in trials and accelerate extraditions: draft
A comprehensive reform of the Mexican judicial system, proposed by the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, seeks to allow the intervention of private communications as evidence in the trials and restrict the use of amparos to avoid delaying extraditions, according to drafts obtained by Reuters of the initiatives which will be presented on Wednesday in the Senate.
In addition, the modifications are intended to standardize legislation in charge of prosecuting crimes in a National Criminal Code so that it can be applied outside of Mexico, when they are committed abroad but have effects in national territory or against Mexicans, such as a shooting in El Paso, Texas, where eight nationals died.
The Office of the Attorney General and the Legal Department of the Presidency prepared the nine initiatives in order to face the crisis of insecurity and impunity in the country. None of the institutions, nor the Presidency, were immediately available for comment.
The reforms include changes to several articles of the Constitution regarding justice, a new National Criminal Code, a new Code of Criminal Procedures, amendments to the Amparo Law, as well as a modification to the Law of the Attorney General's Office and its regulation.
At the end of 2018, López Obrador assumed the presidency of Mexico with the promise of fighting corruption and insecurity fueled by organized crime that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.
The reform will be presented a day before the United States Attorney General, William Barr, arrives in Mexico to discuss security issues with authorities in the Latin American country, following recent tensions between the two nations on how to deal with Mexican drug cartels. .
LESS AMPAROS, MORE EXTRADITIONS?
Section IX of Article 20 of the Mexican Constitution provides for the "nullity" of "any evidence obtained in violation of fundamental rights" such as private communications interventions without the authorization of a judge.
However, one of the proposed reforms to the Magna Carta would allow its use by seeking that "in the presence of an illegal action in the investigation, this does not automatically imply the impunity of those who possibly violate the law."
"The evidence considered illegal by the media on how they were obtained may, where appropriate, be taken into consideration and assessed by the judge of a case," says one of nine drafts obtained by Reuters.
In addition, the reform, which the Senate will begin to discuss in early February, seeks to restrict the use of amparos to avoid delaying extraditions, something that has been used for the defense of several drug traffickers, such as Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who purges life imprisonment in the United States.
Among other things, the time to file appeals for amparo for a final sentence of eight to five years is shortened and the deferral of the hearings to provide evidence is reduced to one time.
"In order to prevent abuse of the suspension of the claimed act, in case of extradition, it is established that the suspension is not granted ex officio and flat," says the draft of the initiative.
"The previous proposal becomes very important because in these cases the reference measure has been used in an abusive manner, for dilatory purposes and in bad faith, so the possibility of its reform to the proposed terms must be reconsidered," he added.
On the other hand, the modifications are intended to standardize the 32 state criminal codes - one per federal entity - in a single National Criminal Code so that it can be applied outside of Mexico when crimes are committed abroad but have effects in national or counter-national territory.
In early August, a shooting in El Paso, Texas, left 22 dead, including eight Mexicans. Months later, in November, a dozen Mexicans sued Walmart for "not protecting them" from the attacker.
"It is foreseen (...) that this code may be applied outside Mexican territory when certain conditions are updated, namely: that the crime is prepared, initiated or committed abroad, but produces effects or is intended to produce them within the national territory, "explains the draft.
In addition, the norm intends that the new Penal Code be applied to crimes committed abroad by Mexicans or those committed by foreigners against nationals; as long as the person has not been definitively tried in the country in which he committed the crime.