PREVIEW-China Feb refined copper imports may hit record high

* What: Chinese initial copper imports in February

* When: Preliminary data will be released around March 11

* Refined copper imports may exceed December's record high

By Polly Yam

HONG KONG, March 6 (Reuters) - China's refined copper imports likely surged to a record high last month while unwrought and semi-finished copper product imports climbed as state-backed stockpiling opened the arbitrage, traders and analysts said.

While last month's data -- due to be released on March 11 -- is likely to be inflated by much-discussed stockbuilding by the State Reserves Bureau, some industry sources also say they see gilmmers of hope from end-users in the world's top consumer.

"Demand is picking up a bit. Some fabricators had bought some copper to build stocks," a manager at a large Chinese trading firm said. "We had 1,500 tonnes of imports arrive yesterday and sold 1,400 tonnes of that on the day."

Imports of refined copper fell 15 percent in January from December's record-high 211,527 tonnes, partly due to the Lunar New Year holiday, but a rebound seems assured for February after the arbitrage for importing copper from London Metals Exchange warehouses yawned wide.

To see a graphic on China's copper imports since 2007: here

Chinese copper prices SCFc3 have risen around 25 percent this year, while the copper contract for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange MCU3 is up 20 percent.

"Our estimate for February imports of refined copper is about 220,000 tonnes," said Zhu Yanzhong, an analyst at Jinrui Futures, a subsidiary of top Chinese producer Jiangxi Copper.

"Imports should be higher because premiums between Chinese and LME prices were good," Zhu said.

A manager at another large trading firm in China estimated imports of refined copper in February could rise by as much as 10 percent from December, which would put them above 230,000 tonnes.

"There were a lot of imports of refined copper in February, even though the month was shorter and people had a few days off due to the Lunar New Year celebrations," the manager said.

SRB

Zhu said part of February's imports would be delivered to the SRB, which is believed to have contracted about 300,000 tonnes of refined copper imports to build its strategic reserves, most of that arriving in the first half. [ID:nHKG124633] [ID:nHKG128327]