The Sydney Morning Herald reports on how China has redefined the global metals market:
Each month the number of new houses being built in the US drops to a new low and the world copper price takes a little hit.
That is because global hedge fund managers are programmed to know that every new US home eats up about 200 kilograms of copper wire, copper pipes and copper fittings, and each new home owner buys about 10 kilograms of copper embedded in their home appliances.
Why then, with the US suffering “about the worst housing market in a century”, according to the home lender Freddie Mac, has the price of copper more than quadrupled in five years to hit a new record high this month?