Economic security

Commodities Slump Means $460 Billion in Savings for China

The pain from the rout in global commodity prices is sweeping through nations from Brazil to South Africa. The biggest beneficiary? Arguably it’s China, the nation often blamed for driving prices lower due to its slowing economic growth.

China’s annual savings from the commodities rout amount to $460 billion, according to calculations by Kenneth Courtis, former Asia vice chairman at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. About $320 billion of that is from cheaper oil, with the rest from other energy, metals, coal and agricultural commodities.

...China saved $188 billion in import costs last year on a basket of 10 commodities ranging from oil to soybeans and natural gas, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement this month. "That significantly cut the costs of domestic companies and improved efficiency," the ministry’s spokesman said.