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Copper prices have been sliding as the Chinese economy has weakened. The question is, can copper recover even if the Chinese economy has not? Christopher Alessi and Amrith Ramkumar examine at the copper industry for The Wall Street Journal:

Growth worries have recently focused on China, which is the world’s largest consumer of copper, accounting for about half of global demand, and is in engulfed in a tariff fight with the U.S.

Apple cited weak Chinese demand in cutting its revenue target, a move that came following tepid Chinese manufacturing figures that showed a commonly-referenced gauge fell into contraction territory.

“Sentiment remains poor following the weak China PMI release yesterday, and Apple cutting its revenue outlook for the first time in 20 years owing to reduced China demand,” said Alistair Munro, an analyst at brokerage Marex Spectron.

China’s Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers index falling into contraction territory for the first time since May 2017 followed official Chinese government manufacturing figures released Monday, showing a fall in the PMI to its lowest level since February 2016.

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