The founder of one of China’s biggest copper trading firms has reportedly been detained by the police for questioning, according to unnamed sources who spoke to Bloomberg. He Jinbi is the founder of Maike Metals, which is the largest copper trading house in China. The firm ran into trouble last year amid a liquidity crunch related to the Covid lockdowns in the country. As a result, creditors went to court to get their money back from the company.
Meanwhile, a decline in the demand for copper from China earlier this month pushed prices to the lowest in four months, with the LSE benchmark dipping below $8,000 per ton. Nikkei noted in a report on the price movements that China accounts for 60% of global copper demand, with much of what it uses going into the real estate sector. As a result of the real estate construction slowdown this year in China, demand for the versatile metal also declined, pushing prices lower.