Pursuits

As China Weighs Metal Stockpiles, History Shows It's No Panacea

  • China was successful in buying copper during financial crisis
  • Countries haven’t done as well hoarding other commodities
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Every time China considers stockpiling a commodity, the market jumps -- at least at first. Longer-term, the record for state intervention in metal and agricultural markets is mixed.

Industrial metals rallied Thursday, with copper gaining the most in almost seven weeks, as authorities were said to be weighingBloomberg Terminal state purchases to support prices near the lowest in years.