Chinese users turn to off-exchange Congolese copper to ease supply tightness
China will import even more off-exchange refined copper this year, according to analysts and traders, as output from the Congo booms and users look to alleviate shortages and head off a potential disruption to supplies of US scrap. The expected surge illustrates the growing reliance of China, the world's biggest copper user, on refined metal supply from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), now the world's second-largest copper producer after years of massive Chinese mining investment there.
China will import even more off-exchange refined copper this year, according to analysts and traders, as output from the Congo booms and users look to alleviate shortages and head off a potential disruption to supplies of US scrap. The expected surge illustrates the growing reliance of China, the world's biggest copper user, on refined metal supply from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), now the world's second-largest copper producer after years of massive Chinese mining investment there.
