Following on from the first release from state reserves on 5 July, China will sell 30kt of copper, 90kt of aluminium and 50kt of zinc later this month, according to the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration. This compares to 20kt of copper, 50kt of aluminium and 30kt of zinc from the first batch. Since the official confirmation of the state reserve release on 16 June, metals prices have not fallen as much as the government had perhaps hoped. Based on LME 3M prices, aluminium has barely budged while copper and zinc had fallen by slightly more than 2% as of Tuesday’s close. Hence, it seems sensible that ... (full story)