By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- China's copper imports in the first half of the year were nearly 70% higher than a year ago, the country's customs data showed Wednesday, while crude-oil imports fell in June. China imported 478,000 metric tons of copper last month, up from May's 422,000, according to the newly released monthly data. Total imports in the first half stood at 2.237 million metric tons, up 68.9% from a year ago. Rising imports from China likely contributed to the drawdown in copper inventories at the London Metal Exchange. LME copper inventories dropped 74,600 metric tons in the first six months. Meanwhile, China's crude oil imports fell to 16.61 million metric tons in June, or 4.06 million barrels a day, from 17.09 million in May. Total imports in the first half stood at 90.77 million metric tons, up 0.3% from a year ago. Imports of petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel rose to 3.59 million metric tons on June, up from 3.34 million in the previous month. In futures trading in New York, September crude fell 1.7% to $64.52 a barrel, moving lower for the first session in six. September copper gained 1% to $2.4755 a pound, staying at the highest level in nine months. The United States Oil Fund (USO 34.27, -0.67, -1.92%) ended at $34.94 Tuesday.

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