China’s Metals Boom Hits Highest Profit Levels Since 2016

China’s metals makers booked their strongest quarter since 2016 in January to March, benefiting from consistently higher prices for their products, enjoying an additional boost from the Middle East crisis. Aluminum and copper were the biggest winners, Bloomberg reported earlier today, helping Chinese metals producers book combined profits of some $21 billion for the three months to March. Copper prices hit an all-time high in the first quarter and aluminum rose to the highest since 2022. The disruption in energy production in the Middle East,…