China’s state reserves authority released 150,000 tons of copper, aluminum, and zinc from national reserves on Wednesday, aiming to ease the burden on businesses caused by rising raw material costs.
This marks the third batch of metal reserves released into the market. Previously, China had released a total of 270,000 tons of copper, aluminum, and zinc in efforts to stabilize market conditions.
Since the beginning of this year, bulk commodity prices have surged due to factors such as the global spread of COVID-19 and supply-demand imbalances, placing significant pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Earlier official data showed that China’s Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures factory-gate prices, rose by 9 percent year-on-year in July, slightly up from the 8.8 percent increase recorded in June.
The sharp rise in crude oil and coal prices contributed to the year-on-year increase in PPI for July. However, on a month-on-month basis, data indicated that government measures to stabilize commodity prices have started to take effect, with slight price declines observed in sectors such as steel and non-ferrous metals, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
