A recent Reuters article suggests China’s domination of the base metals market was marching on relentlessly prior to the coronavirus outbreak.The headline, “China’s copper imports and aluminium consumption to drop again in 2020,” suggested otherwise, painting an initial image of a depressed market — but the reality is it is anything but. China’s imports of refined copper are likely to slide for a second year running, the article states, quoting research house Antaike. But you have to read on to see the reason: refined imports are falling because of the rapid rate of smelter construction as China ramps up imports of ... (full story)