China May Be Slowing Its Mad Rush To Stockpile Industrial Commodities

Still procuring soybeans though.
We had hypothesized one of three possible reasons for the relentless buying:

1) The central planners really believed they were going to use all the inputs
2) it was a foreign reserve diversification move, out of dollars, into stuff
3) It was in anticipation of a weakening in the yuan.

As to which is correct only time will tell as the CCP certainly isn't.

Two from Reuters:

October 16

UPDATE 1-Iron ore futures log weekly losses on supply outlook, demand concerns

Dalian iron ore down for fourth session

* SGX iron ore rebounds from 4-day slump

* Rio Tinto warns on new virus lockdowns

* Decline in global steel demand seen muted (Updates prices, adds graphic)

China’s iron ore futures extended losses on Friday and posted their first weekly decline in three, pressured by rising portside stockpiles in the world’s top steel producer and dimming global demand recovery prospects for steel products.

The most-traded January 2021 contract for the steelmaking ingredient on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.6% lower at 785.50 yuan ($117.05) a tonne, extending losses into a fourth straight session and falling 4.6% from last week.

Iron ore’s front-month November contract on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.6% to $114.80 a tonne by 0734 GMT, after a four-day slump, but was also heading for a weekly loss....MUCH MORE

And , also October 16:

China has hit the brakes on its oil buying spree as swelling inventories and limited import quotas stifle purchases.

Softening Chinese demand in the final quarter of 2020 comes as renewed lockdowns and a spike in coronavirus cases across Europe and the United States curtail oil consumption, adding more downward pressure on oil prices.

The world’s top crude oil importer has been a critical market for oil producers forced to dump excess supplies at decades-low prices during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The recovery in China’s demand has been very, very strong, and so if you remove part of that strength, that would have a bearish impact on the (global oil) market,” said Lachlan Shaw, director, head of commodity research, markets at the National Australia Bank (NAB).

China was the only major crude consumer with increased oil demand in the April-September quarters from the year before.

It imported a record 2.108 billion barrels, or 12.8% of total global oil supplies, during that period, according to China customs and International Energy Agency (IEA) data.....

....MUCH MORE