From Zero Hedge:

Copper, nickel and other base metals stockpiled by speculative Chinese investors including pig farmers may be sold when "market sentiment turns," said Scotia Capital Inc.

Pig farmers in Guangzhou province were buying copper or nickel, Liu wrote, citing CCTV. Residents in Wenzhou city of Zhejiang province, "famously investment savvy," are reportedly using bank loans to stockpile copper scrap, with one merchant saying he has stored 20,000 tons, Liu wrote.

Metal traders have reported incidents when "a rich man walked into our office and asked us what had been the lowest and highest prices of nickel," Scotia’s Liu wrote. "After telling him those prices, he said the current price was low and he placed an order."

China, the world's largest metal consumer, uses around 5 million tons of copper and 400,000 tons of nickel a year. Shanghai exchange-monitored copper stockpiles expanded to 76,107 tons last week, the highest in two years.

"The scale of the speculative investment is hard to quantify, although some local observers put the number at some 200,000 tons for copper, and at 50,000 tons for nickel," Scotia's Liu wrote.

Read full article...

More on China:

Jim Rogers on the No. 1 reason commodities will soar

Famed market analyst says China has "become a giant Ponzi scheme"

Banned for decades: Chinese government now urging citizens to buy gold and silver