Five Things to Watch in Commodities as China Targets Overcapacity

Involution, a state of hyper-competition that yields ever-diminishing returns, has become a buzzword for all that ails the Chinese economy — and a distinguishing feature of its commodities markets.

Solving the problem has leaped up the policy agenda in recent weeks. Officials have inveighed against the overcapacity and cutthroat rivalries which have delivered nearly three years of falling prices at the factory-gate. That’s threatened economic targets, and fanned accusations that the world’s biggest producer of industrial materials is swamping global markets with its excess output.