China's iron ore imports rise in August China, the world's largest consumer of raw materials, reported that imports of several key commodities rose in August from a year earlier despite slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. China's trade figures are closely watched as an indicator of demand trends by the world's most important consumer of commodities. The figures released by Beijing on Monday also showed that growth in China's overall exports - a key measure of global economic health - slowed to a mere 2.7 per cent year on year. Imports of copper in August rose 4.5 per cent from the same period last year to 355,856 tonnes, though fell slightly from July's levels. Growth in China's demand for the red metal used in appliances, buildings and electrical grids has waned this year as construction activity has cooled. China's imports of iron ore last month were surprisingly strong at 62.45m tonnes, rising 5.7 per cent from the previous year and 7.9 per cent from the previous month. The price of iron ore, a key steelmaking ingredient, has plummeted over the past two months because demand for steel in China is growing at a slower rate and stockpile levels are high. Traders and analysts said shipments of iron ore were expected to fall in September from August's levels as China's mills destocked and growth in steel demand remained weak. "I would expect September to be a bit weaker because as we have seen prices falling so sharply we have seen less interest from the marginal seaborne shipments," said Graeme Train, Shanghai-based commodities analyst at Macquarie. Commodities markets in China got a boost on Monday in response to a new round of infrastructure spending that Beijing announced on Friday, with copper futures in Shanghai hitting a four-month high. However, analysts questioned whether the Rmb1tn ($158bn) worth of infrastructure projects, which include new railroads, will be enough to revive slumping commodities markets such as iron ore. Grains have been China's fastest growing import this year as rising incomes and urbanisation boost consumption of pork and processed foods. Imports of grains - wheat, corn, barley and sorghum, as defined by China's customs bureau - soared 244 per cent during the first eight months of the year compared to the same period last year. China's crude oil imports dropped to 18.4m tonnes in August, down 15.7 per cent from the previous month, and down 12.5 per cent from the previous year. August imports were equivalent to 4.3m barrels per day, according to Financial Times calculations.