SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--China's copper fabricators are facing a tough second half this year following global economic uncertainties and government efforts to tighten domestic credit, but Chinese copper imports will remain strong as demand from the power sector and other rural projects continue to drive consumption that is expected to grow 6% annually for the next five years. Strong Chinese demand growth despite a weak global environment will keep copper prices at elevated levels as supply fails to keep pace with growing demand, participants at an industry conference said. The bellwether three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange reached an all-time high of $10,190 a metric ton Feb.15, but copper has come under pressure since then, dropping some 6.7% in September alone amid ongoing global uncertainty. Even at current levels, however, copper prices remain relatively high. LME three-month copper was trading around $8,745/ton late Friday in Asia. "Demand from the power sector is quite firm and .. that should provide strong support" to Chinese copper demand, said Zhang Jinfeng, director for strategy at Yunnan Copper Industry (Group) Co., China's fourth-biggest copper smelter by output. Chinese refined copper imports will continue to remain in a range of 200,000 tons to 250,000 tons a month during the rest of the year, Zhang said on the sidelines of the Metal Bulletin conference. China imported 194,280 tons of refined copper in July, an increase of 8.8% from June, while imports were 1.28 million tons in the January-July period, down 28% from a year earlier. Imports slowed earlier in the year after monetary tightening measures restricted fabricators' access to bank loans, but a recovery in demand from the power sector is expected offset the impact of tighter credit, Zhang said. China's push to electrify its vast rural hinterlands will drive consumption growth in the next five years, keeping global prices at elevated levels despite neutral market conditions elsewhere in the world, said Zhao Bo, deputy director of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association's copper department. Going forward, the "average [demand] growth will likely be 6% per year for the next five years, with rural demand [being] the main contributor," he said. China has announced plans to spend CNY292.5 billion ($45 billion) on power grids in the next five years, mainly on rural network upgrades. With the power sector accounting for 48.2% of domestic copper consumption, Chinese demand is expected to reach 8.5 million tons a year by 2015, Zhao said. China is the world's largest consumer of copper, accounting for as much as 40% of global consumption. That makes any early indication of Chinese demand a bellwether for global trend in demand and prices. "The China copper demand story will continue and we're very bullish on prices in the long term," said Kay Priestly, chief financial offer of Rio Tinto Ltd.'s U.S. copper division. "China's share of global demand is forecast to exceed 50% by 2025." While the overall outlook is still positive, there could be some near-term headwinds as demand from the mass-transit sector and highway-related projects take a hit due to tighter credit market conditions, said Chen Hongzhou, vice director at Chinalco Luoyang Copper Co, a unit of Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. or Chinalco. Moreover, with limited or little growth in the U.S and Europe, Chinese copper exports to these markets may remain under pressure, he said. Copper contained in exports of finished goods accounts for 25%-30% of China's total copper consumption. -Yue Li contributed to this article; Dow Jones Newswires; (8621) 6120 1200; yue.li@dowjones.com

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