China restores VAT concession - with a twist

摘要

What's been the spark for keener spot terms? In a word, China. Where India drove demand early in the year, China came back from its new year break very hungry. Merchants report business with big smelters at dollar 25/2.5 and claim that if they had the material they could sell to smaller clients at under dollar 24/2.4. There was clearly a scramble by the Chinese to capture the VAT import rebate before it expired at the end of December and this prompted quite big shipments in the opening weeks of January. This raw material will now have been used, forcing the smelters to cover in again.