From Reuters, August 2, 9:00 pm EDT:
COLUMN-China's copper appetite wanes just as US grows hungry: Andy Home
China's copper import surge has peaked.
The country sucked in a record 4.67 million tonnes of refined copper last year, making it the single most important physical driver of the pandemic recovery rally.
This year, the import pulse has slowed, with volumes sliding by 10% over the first half and the monthly total dipping below 300,000 tonnes in both May and June. (https://tmsnrt.rs/3C81YWg)
High prices and Beijing's attempts to fade last year's stimulus have taken some of the heat out of the Chinese market.
Equally significant is the wave of scrap washing up on China's shores as imports rebound after policy-makers reversed a planned ban on what had been designated "waste".
Now classified as a "resource", scrap is flooding into the country, reducing the requirement for refined metal.
By Andy Home
LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - China's copper import surge has peaked.
The country sucked in a record 4.67 million tonnes of refined copper last year, making it the single most important physical driver of the pandemic recovery rally.
This year, the import pulse has slowed, with volumes sliding by 10% over the first half and the monthly total dipping below 300,000 tonnes in both May and June. (https://tmsnrt.rs/3C81YWg)
High prices and Beijing's attempts to fade last year's stimulus have taken some of the heat out of the Chinese market.
Equally significant is the wave of scrap washing up on China's shores as imports rebound after policy-makers reversed a planned ban on what had been designated "waste".
Now classified as a "resource", scrap is flooding into the country, reducing the requirement for refined metal.
It could be a "hugely negative factor for world copper prices", analysts at Roskill said. ("China’s scrap rebalancing act threatens to de-rail the price recovery,", July 28, 2021.)
Alternatively, the displaced metal could find a new home in the United States, where the evidence of a tightening copper market is mounting.....
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