Posted: 4/23/2009 9:17:47 PM EDT
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There was an article last week (cant remember where) that said that they (China) had purchased in March record amounts of copper and that they have been buying many metals (industrial) in very large quantities.
link Found it.. ina’s Copper, Aluminum Imports Climb on Government Stimulus Share | Email | Print | A A A By William Bi April 22 (Bloomberg) –– Copper and aluminum imports by China, the largest consumer, jumped in March as the country’s 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus program increased demand, cushioning the economy from the global recession. Inbound shipments of refined copper advanced 10 percent from the previous month to 296,843 metric tons and primary aluminum imports surged seven times to 85,965 tons, customs data showed. Copper imports were a record, Wanxiang Resources Co. analyst Sheng Weimin said. Zinc, lead and tin purchases gained. China’s economy, the world’s third-largest, will expand faster than previously forecast this year and next as government spending spurs domestic demand and boosts investment, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a note today. The country’s copper, aluminum and zinc prices were above international levels, bolstering imports, Barclays Capital said this month. Metals imports climbed because of “favorable arbitrage,” Sheng said from Shanghai today. Wanxiang is one of China’s top copper importers. “We expect this month’s copper purchases to be even higher,” he said. “The momentum may only cool if scrap imports start to rebound significantly from May.” Copper imports are being fueled by a shortage of scrap material and government buying, according to Scotia Capital Inc. China’s refined copper purchases may jump to a record 2 million tons this year, Simon Collins, general manager of Trafigura Trading Shanghai Co., said in February. Aluminum Imports Refined copper purchases jumped 92 percent to 748,281 tons in the first three months of the year from the year ago period, while scrap imports slumped 48 percent to 731,974 tons, customs data showed. Imports of primary aluminum more than tripled to 115,755 tons in the first three months, the data showed. “Primary aluminum shipments could surge to 200,000 tons this month,” said Eric Zhang, an analyst at CBI China Co., who said in February the imports are going to climb. “The increases are not yet enough to ease tight domestic supplies.” The State Reserve Bureau bought 590,000 tons of aluminum and 159,000 tons of zinc from domestic smelters this year for strategic reserves. The bureau has contracted to take 300,000 tons to 400,000 tons of refined copper into its stockpiles from overseas, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. analysts last month. To contact the reporter on this story: William Bi in Beijing at [email protected] Last Updated: April 22, 2009 00:17 EDT |
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454 tons sounds alot, but look at the world's gold reserve:
World's gold reserve US have over 8,000 tons of gold, compare to China's 1,054 tons, over 7 times more. |
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454 tons sounds alot, but look at the world's gold reserve: World's gold reserve US have over 8,000 tons of gold, compare to China's 1,054 tons, over 7 times more. You're right....but wrong as well. THe US doesn't own the gold reserves....the Federal Reserve does. BIG...difference. I agree with those who said China will own the world soon. Those zipperheads know how to leverage markets for the long term. We only know how to leverage for the next 3 months. |
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China is a better investor. USA absolutely SUCKS at it. China will be huge in the future...they will take the crown as the world leader. Kind of like England with their mercantilism. Right? Hoarding wealth does not make for a strong economy. what worries me is that it makes for a capable warfighter |
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China is a better investor. USA absolutely SUCKS at it. China will be huge in the future...they will take the crown as the world leader. Kind of like England with their mercantilism. Right? Hoarding wealth does not make for a strong economy. what worries me is that it makes for a capable warfighter A strong economy would make it possible to be even better though. I hope they go the mercantile route, it will keep them weaker in the long run. |
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Quoted: China is a better investor. USA absolutely SUCKS at it. China will be huge in the future...they will take the crown as the world leader. China has a very long history of imploding when things are good, and while past history is not an indicator of future performance, they will probably self-destruct according to their schedule. Hopefully, we won't be collateral damage. |
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Quoted: Dave A will be along soon to chastise them for their mistake. He will insist that Gold has no intrinsic value and a bunch of others will join in and say they should have bought ammo and toilet paper instead. That's how most of our Gold threads end. Actually, I'd agree with him here. Gold doesn't have any intrinsic value as a currency. Just like paper money gold only has the value given to it by the market. The difference is that the FEDTM can't just print more gold! There are good and bad things that come from that. I tend to think that a precious metal economy would be better on balance than what we have now, but that's just me. It would be better IMHO to pick a different metal than gold though. Gold is just so useful as an industrial material and is so expensive as it is. We should pick a different metal, one that has few practical uses, and preferably one that is prevelant in only the continental United States!  |
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Quoted: Quick let's send over are libs to destroy them from within. That might actually work, but we don't need to send them ours. They will make their own. Libs are just like cancer. If you live long enough and are not killed by another disease first, your body will inevitably make a cancer. It is (very) basically the degradation of the body and its genetic coding. Libs are the manifestation of the degradation of society's social structure. Libs are society's cancer. Both are inevatible, both are deadly! MAX |
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Dave A will be along soon to chastise them for their mistake. He will insist that Gold has no intrinsic value and a bunch of others will join in and say they should have bought ammo and toilet paper instead. That's how most of our Gold threads end. Actually, I'd agree with him here. Gold doesn't have any intrinsic value as a currency. Just like paper money gold only has the value given to it by the market. The difference is that the FEDTM can't just print more gold! There are good and bad things that come from that. I tend to think that a precious metal economy would be better on balance than what we have now, but that's just me. It would be better IMHO to pick a different metal than gold though. Gold is just so useful as an industrial material and is so expensive as it is. We should pick a different metal, one that has few practical uses, and preferably one that is prevelant in only the continental United States!
That is exactly the reason we need a precious metals backed currency. The fed can inflate or deflate fiat currency. If they choose to inflate it, you just lost value(purchasing power). If they deflate it, you're probably going to get fucked too, just like every other time the government does anything. |
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Quoted: Quoted: That is exactly the reason we need a precious metals backed currency. The fed can inflate or deflate fiat currency. If they choose to inflate it, you just lost value(purchasing power). If they deflate it, you're probably going to get fucked too, just like every other time the government does anything.Quoted: Actually, I'd agree with him here. Gold doesn't have any intrinsic value as a currency. Just like paper money gold only has the value given to it by the market. The difference is that the FEDTM can't just print more gold! There are good and bad things that come from that. I tend to think that a precious metal economy would be better on balance than what we have now, but that's just me. It would be better IMHO to pick a different metal than gold though. Gold is just so useful as an industrial material and is so expensive as it is. We should pick a different metal, one that has few practical uses, and preferably one that is prevelant in only the continental United States! Dave A will be along soon to chastise them for their mistake. He will insist that Gold has no intrinsic value and a bunch of others will join in and say they should have bought ammo and toilet paper instead. That's how most of our Gold threads end. That's the truth!  |
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Dave A will be along soon to chastise them for their mistake. He will insist that Gold has no intrinsic value and a bunch of others will join in and say they should have bought ammo and toilet paper instead. That's how most of our Gold threads end. Actually, I'd agree with him here. Gold doesn't have any intrinsic value as a currency. Just like paper money gold only has the value given to it by the market. The difference is that the FEDTM can't just print more gold! There are good and bad things that come from that. I tend to think that a precious metal economy would be better on balance than what we have now, but that's just me. It would be better IMHO to pick a different metal than gold though. Gold is just so useful as an industrial material and is so expensive as it is. We should pick a different metal, one that has few practical uses, and preferably one that is prevelant in only the continental United States!
That is exactly the reason we need a precious metals backed currency. The fed can inflate or deflate fiat currency. If they choose to inflate it, you just lost value(purchasing power). If they deflate it, you're probably going to get fucked too, just like every other time the government does anything. Yet, if we have a gold standard we allow OTHER countries to inflate or deflate our currency. What a PLAN!!!!! The Fed is too heavy handed with their interest rate adjustments (in reality they should rely on the free market to decide what the money supply is and just react to that), but much better than a gold standard. |
| The chinese are stockpiling copper and zinc because they plan to modernise the whole country putting in phone lines, electricity poles and related infrastructure in a public works style operation throughout the whole country. This will give them an avenue to employ the pissed off millions of people who will lose their factory jobs in an economic downturn. They have bought copper mines in Peru and Chile for this exact purpose with their 50% government share in Chinalco?. When they modernise they will have first class NEW infrastructure while the west will have degraded infrastructure because we have sold it all off and those who own it dont give a toss to upgrade it because it effects their bottom line and investors in those companies want a dividend every year or they pull their money out whichs adds to the problem of degraded infrastructure. It also helps to keep the commodities market competitive instead of being reliant on places like Australia who supply the bulk of their raw materials. The biggest concern of the Chinese Government i think is to keep the populace happy and trotting along given their history of instability and internal strife throughout the centuries. They now have a more educated and jaded population whose generation have lived in the best economic times ever. |
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The chinese are stockpiling copper and zinc because they plan to modernise the whole country putting in phone lines, electricity poles and related infrastructure in a public works style operation throughout the whole country. This will give them an avenue to employ the pissed off millions of people who will lose their factory jobs in an economic downturn. They have bought copper mines in Peru and Chile for this exact purpose with their 50% government share in Chinalco?. When they modernise they will have first class NEW infrastructure while the west will have degraded infrastructure because we have sold it all off and those who own it dont give a toss to upgrade it because it effects their bottom line and investors in those companies want a dividend every year or they pull their money out whichs adds to the problem of degraded infrastructure. It also helps to keep the commodities market competitive instead of being reliant on places like Australia who supply the bulk of their raw materials. The biggest concern of the Chinese Government i think is to keep the populace happy and trotting along given their history of instability and internal strife throughout the centuries. They now have a more educated and jaded population whose generation have lived in the best economic times ever. While India lets their infrastructure rot. If China got rid of the socialist chain around their neck they would be unstoppable. |
