Buy what China takes, sell what it makes. Follow this rule over the last decade and big bucks would have come from bull markets in high quality iron ore and copper. Zinc and aluminium, of which China has plenty, did not perform nearly as well. This year, though, the maxim did not hold. Zinc and aluminium have helped lead the CRB Base Metals index up 12 per cent this year, its best performance in a decade. If prices rise high enough for the latter, China may simply increase exports, capping the rally.
買入中國消費的,賣出中國制造的。在過去10年里遵守這一準則,就能從優質鐵礦石和銅的牛市賺得盆滿缽滿。中國不缺的鋅和鋁的市場表現遠遠沒有這么好。然而今年以來,這條準則不靈了。在鋅和鋁的帶動下,CRB賤金屬指數(CRB Base Metals index)今年攀升了12%,創10年來最佳表現。如果鋁價上漲幅度夠大,中國可能會增加出口,從而抑制漲勢。