There are several components of demand. There’s real economic demand (you need the stuff to make other stuff). There is investment demand (you’re buying it in order to make a profit from what you think the price trend is. There is also pure speculation, and it’s possible that some middle-men were flat-out speculating by buying alongside China’s State Reserve Bureau (sort of like the banks and brokers in the U.S. buying Treasuries ahead of the Fed late last year to improve Q4 earnings).
July 1st, 2009 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "aluminium"
Is China Trying to Back its Currency With Metal?
A smattering of articles in recent weeks has highlighted the stockpiling of metals by the China State Reserves Bureau. The Bureau scarfed up 329,000 tonnes of copper in February and 375,000 tonnes in March.
April 22nd, 2009 | Dan Denning | 13 comments | Continued
The Market Price for the Resources China Wants is Rising
Who is the predator and who is the prey? That is what we wonder today. Is China preying on BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP)? Or is BHP preying on Rio? Who are the barracudas and who are the minnows? First, the big fish. “With iron ore prices rising explosively,” says China’s National Development Reform Commission (NDRC), “many domestic firms are very enthusiastic about investing in overseas mines, which needs strengthened macro guidance from the country.”
April 17th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 5 comments | Continued
