"Copper market needs more than China’s covid stimulus measures"

 From Bloomberg via Mining.com, May 25:

Copper prices in China have barely budged since the central bank cut interest rates and the government announced 33 measures to rescue the economy from the clutches of its Covid Zero policy.

Given the wide range of copper’s applications, from construction to white goods and renewable power, it might seem odd that such a broad response from the authorities has failed to provoke much enthusiasm among buyers. However, it may be that the bulk of the stimulus, particularly around freeing up lending, has actually been skewed to bandaging Beijing’s self-inflicted wounds in the real estate sector.

And Chinese demand for property is in the deep freeze. While lockdowns or the threat of them persists, buying a new home is probably the last thing on people’s minds....

....MUCH MORE

Similar thoughts a couple weeks ago with this intro:

Copper: It Is All About China's Economy

If China ever begins tearing down the tens of millions of apartments that are sitting empty the amount of supply from copper that will be recycled is mind boggling. Barring that, the huge cutback in residential construction has taken one of the largest demand factors out of the equation and except for the run-up in price we saw immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine, when it appeared China was converting their foreign exchange holdings into just about any kind of tangible stuff that would be storable, grains, metals etc., the trend since the Shanghai lockdowns became widely publicized has been pretty much unidirectional....

4.2190 down 0.0360 (-0.85%) last.