Supercycle bulls will argue that this is just a temporary soft spot before green infrastructure stimulus starts building momentum in Europe and the United States.
Half the world’s copper mining is controlled by just three countries, and China alone refines 40% of the metal central to the green energy transition away from fossil fuels.
China, the world's biggest importer of most major commodities, has already made several attempts to stall a surge in prices for everything from iron ore to coal.
Country is considering longer-term measures to grab a bigger slice of mining companies’ profits once a temporary export tax finishes at the end of this year.