Beijing: copper trades were personal
18 November 2005
The Strategic Reserve Bureau, in its first statement on the copper scandal, said Liu Qibing, the trader who went missing last week after shorting 100,000-200,000 tonnes of copper on the London Metals Exchange, was acting in a personal capacity. Beijing's statement did not say whether the government took responsibility for Liu's loss-making trades that have convulsed the market, driving copper prices as high as US$4,175 a tonne before going back to US$4,163 Thursday.