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Thread: China hunts fugitive commodities trader

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[quote=MARRIE,307734]In July and August, when the price was at about $3,300 per ton, Liu agreed to sell roughly 130,000 tons for delivery in December, according to China Daily. This week, copper for delivery in December was trading above $4,200 per ton. Total losses have previously been estimated at $60 million to $200 million.

As the price of copper climbed, Liu's supervisors apparently pressured him to double his bets in hopes that an eventual drop in the price would erase his losses, lest they provoke scrutiny from higher up, said a source familiar with the case. A merely bad bet ballooned into a disaster.

"There's definitely no chance it was Liu's personal decision," said Huang Xiao, an analyst at Beijing Capital Futures Co. Ltd. "Trading activities like this by a state arm are not like those in some Western countries, operating in a completely market environment. This is supposed to be a nonprofit state unit that helps stabilize the price and supply of raw materials. They are not supposed to be engaged in speculation for profit. He could not have done that alone."

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