China seeks to extend its clout in commodity markets
Aside from its big appetite for energy and metals, it is also opening up to international traders
FEW CRISES highlight China’s weight in commodity markets as clearly as the global energy crunch. Though analysts attribute the shortages to many different causes, all mention China. Its post-covid economic recovery, coupled with a hot summer, produced a surge in demand for power. Supplies of its two main sources of electricity, coal and hydropower, were curbed by environmental crackdowns and droughts respectively.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Material clout”
Finance & economics November 20th 2021
- China seeks to extend its clout in commodity markets
- Germany grapples with weird ways to dodge its debt brake
- The case of Japan’s curiously quiescent inflation rate
- Baillie Gifford and the three quandaries of fund management
- As housing costs rocket, governments take aim at large investors
- Frequent-flyer schemes provide airlines with a lifeline
- The violence in Ethiopia imperils an impressive growth record
- Janos Kornai understood capitalism by studying its opposite
From the November 20th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Finance & economics
Will America’s crypto frenzy end in disaster?
Donald Trump’s team is about to bring digital finance into the mainstream
Do tariffs raise inflation?
Usually. But the bigger problem is that they harm economic growth and innovation
European governments struggle to stop rich people from fleeing
Exit taxes are popular, and counter-productive
Saba Capital wages war on underperforming British investment trusts
How many will end up in Boaz Weinstein’s sights?
Has Japan truly escaped low inflation?
Its central bankers are increasingly hopeful
How American bankers dodged the MAGA carnage
The masters of the universe have escaped an anti-globalist revolt