Copper sees the biggest shortage in 2 years: ICSG 

NEW YORK: The physical copper markets saw the biggest shortage in 2 years in November 2011, thanks to increased imports to China, says the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) says. China is the biggest consumer of copper, accounting for almost 40% of global consumption.
November shortage had widened to 119,000 tonnes, the highest since March 2010's 120,000 tonnes, Bloomberg reports an ICSG statistician. The shortage has however subsided over the course of the year. Jan-Nov 2011 saw a deficit of 382000 tonnes, over 15% lower than the 460,000 tonne deficit in 2010. China's net imports in October and November were 59% higher than during the same period in 2010.
The metal has however has had a weak start to 2012 in terms of imports. Official data shows that Chinese copper imports had declined by 18% in January, which many believe was bound to happen given the high levels of imports during the last quarter of 2011.
Analysts now estimate Chinese imports to remain low, at least until March. Inventories at Shanghai are also reported to be quite high, which in combination with higher LME prices, will dissuade arbitrage between LME and the SHFE.

Courtesy: Commodity Online