A rise in Chinese copper stocks to record levels has divided opinion, with analysts and traders at loggerheads over the reason for the increase.
Copper prices, which fell to a six-year low in January, have risen 12 per cent this quarter, briefly trading above $5,000 a tonne, helped by a weaker US dollar and optimism over China’s property market.
But investors are trying to work out why there is 400,000 tonnes of copper worth more than $2bn sitting in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Analysts at some influential banks in the commodity markets, such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch, say the stocks are a sign that demand in China, the world’s largest consumer of copper, remains weak.