China’s net imports of refined copper surged by 38% to 4.4 million tonnes last year, breaking all historical records. The country’s call on metal from the rest of the world was a million tonnes higher than the previous peak in 2018 and 1.2 million tonnes more than was imported in 2019. This extraordinary buying spree has propelled the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper price from its COVID-19 low of $4,371 per tonne in March last year to above $10,000 per tonne, last trading at $9,985. It has also reshaped the copper market’s statistical landscape, judging by the latest forecasts from the International Copper Study ... (full story)