Copper Shrugs Off Global Gloom as Chinese Buyers Squeeze Supply

Photographer: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg
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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.