China's unwrought copper imports fell in August after a bounce in the previous month.

Shipments to China jumped to 38.14 million tonnes in August from 34.53 million tonnes in July.

GlobalData also predicts silver output in 2019 will continue to decline to 913.5 million oz.

The world's top two producers will reduce production by around 30,000 tonnes this year.

Copper has slid 14% from this year’s high in mid-April on the back of a manufacturing slump and warnings that major economies are heading into recession.

But further developments in aluminium technology could lead to increased substitution of copper in cabling.

At some point it won’t make sense anymore to dig for raw materials, because enough batteries are available.