Copper Shrugs Off Global Gloom as Chinese Buyers Squeeze Supply

The global copper market is flashing signs of tightness, as strong Chinese buying squeezes scant supplies even in the face of worries about a looming industrial downturn.

It’s a counterintuitive dynamic: copper is typically seen as a bellwether for the global economy — and expectations for growth are being rapidly downgraded due to the trade war between the US and China, and other countries around the world.

Yet while copper prices plunged in early April after US President Donald Trump unveiled his so-called reciprocal tariff regime, they have since rebounded – helped by strong buying from China, according to numerous ...