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China’s Metals Markets Surge on Bullish Outlooks
Traders are betting record amounts of money on China’s metals markets, expecting a continued rally in the prices of base metals and lithium. At the end of 2025 and the start of 2026, speculators held record-high open interest in the base metals copper, zinc, nickel, tin, lead, and aluminum traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, and near-record open interest in battery metal lithium on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange. Concerns about tightening global metal supply, lower interest rates driving investment in metal commodities, and expectations of resilient industrial and electrification demand despite the U.S. trade ... (full story)