, Columnist
China’s Price Controls Won’t Crash a Booming Metals Market
So long as activity in the real economy continues at the current pace, such tactics are unlikely to succeed.
The real economy might foil China’s plans.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China’s government is on a campaign to rein in prices for industrial metals. If it wants the plan to work, it needs to address the cause, not the symptoms.
State-owned companies have been ordered to control their risks and limit exposure to overseas commodities markets, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News this week. Government stockpiles of copper, aluminum and zinc will also soon be released to fabricators and manufacturers, a measure that could be expected to reduce prices.