Following up on yesterday's post, here is what the 12-month chart looks like for the Yangshan premium, which yesterday hit a RECORD $178 per tonne of copper. That record broke again this morning. This tells us that despite all the macro noise, nothing has changed in the PHYSICAL world. The Yangshan copper premium is the extra cost paid over the benchmark London Metal Exchange (LME) price to import refined copper into China. The RECORD premium signals a lack of available short-term supply, strong domestic demand and low local warehouse inventories. China is the world's largest consumer of refined copper, accounting for ~60% of global consumption. This problem is not unique to China, as other major economies around the world also face the same reality when they try to get their hands on copper metal... they have to pay up. The copper market only wants to react upwards when the physical market globally is tight and shows no signs of easing.