Major concerns were raised on Monday on continued demand from China which sent the copper price and main industrial metals sliding yesterday. Covid continues to be a pest in China, with lockdowns in major cities and ports suffering backlogs of unloading ships.

After China promised more support to revive an economy which has been ravaged by the virus, some of Monday’s losses were recouped by copper prices.

Copper rose to 2.3% in China on Tuesday as the central bank of the country pledged to boost monetary support for the economy, particularly for small businesses that were hard hit by the pandemic.

The overall picture is that China’s weaker demand is eclipsing supply concerns. These were raised after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in late February.

It is surprising that copper prices did not change much in Q1, whereas most commodities have risen after Russia went into Ukraine.

Many bearish bets have been placed on Copper Futures by fund managers who see the China Covid problem getting worse before it gets better.