Copper: Humanity’s first and most important future metal
Millions of feet of copper wiring will be required for strengthening the world’s power grids, and hundreds of thousands of tonnes more are needed to build wind and solar farms.
Gordon G. Chang, gloomy prognosticator on China, digs into trade numbers on copper and believes the Chinese are buying copper to gussy up their trade deficit numbers, rather than having a real need for the metal.
Buying more copper helps hide a yawning trade surplus that might cause trouble with the country’s trading partners. China is expected to get new leadership this fall, and leaders want to keep the transition smooth.
Chang predicts copper will start to wind down mid-year:
Why? First, by then the slowdown in the economy will become evident, and stockpiling will no longer be able to mask the fact that imports, a proxy for domestic consumption and growth, are tumbling. Second, Chinese enterprises will run out of money to buy unneeded metal. Soon, China, which accounts for about 40% of global demand for copper, will not be able to support world prices by adding to its hoard.
5 Comments
Rgmf01
In reference to this article, I remember when China started to collect and purchase all remains and scrap of different plastics some years ago, now is the leader to supply any cheapest plastic goods, so I suppose they will become into new leaders for the cooper too.
Expositors
I believe the Cinese to be smarter than that. China has vast reserves of USD to splash around. Better to stockpile copper along with pm’s. China intends to continue to exist. Such being the case, they will one day use the stored copper. Not a problem. But what will they build with worthless US paper?
Mario Faz
Expositors: do you really mean it? C’mon! China is struggling to become a World power and the Communist Party knows that the only way to do it’s building a strong economy. Stockpiling resources obtained abroad is as important as developing it’s owns. Why China has become so aggressive expanding his commerce in Latin America, Africa and other parts of the World? Moreover it’s political influence is evident even here in the US. remember that Chinese guy who was a lobbyist in Washington that was a contributor to Obama’s election?
If you think I’m wrong start to learn Cantonese right now buddy. The Chinese are coming!
mining
” Start to learn Cantonese. Chinese are coming.” I just found it funny that you wrote this. I do not think Chinese can be that scary.
Ramclouds100
Wise ? Why would they keep buying as THEY caused the prices to spike hard ? The only reason ‘China’ ever does anything is if it works for THEM 3 to 6 different ways . Why did and do they buy Copper ? All the above reasons plus 1 we do not have figured out generally yet .
Devious and triple layer thinking . Think devious .