Copper Winding Earth 105 Times Shows Deficit: Commodities

China, primed by government spending to boost growth, will need enough copper every month to circle the globe more than 100 times.

The nation required 4.2 million kilometers (2.6 million miles) of copper cables in December, the most in nine months, to satisfy demand for electric grids, housing, autos and exports. That’s enough to go around the 40,075-kilometer equator about 105 times. Manufacturing and exports are growing at the fastest pace in two years, while cars are selling like never before in China, the world’s most-populated country and responsible for about 40 percent of world copper consumption.