from another artical on chinese copper inventories
The Chinese Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI), which measures the activity of major Chinese companies, plunged to a record low of 40.9 in November. But there were glimmers of optimism hidden in the December report, with the new orders index for Chinese exports picking-up to 37.3 from 32.3 the previous month, and the sub-index for output climbing to 39.4 in December from 35.5 in November.
mick comment
extremely low chinese inventories could quickly bring down LME inventories.If there is a drop off in supply (to be expected in 2-3 months time) and increased chinese purchases then LME inventories should fall steeply - I still think that it will be another 6 months before we see a sustainable rise in copper