Inventories of reinforced steel bars, a key construction material, started rising before the arrival of the summer slow season, and China’s State Council had warned repeatedly on price increases, he said in an interview.“Our models were flashing strong signals of a reversal,” said Lee, the general manager of Shanghai-based Regan Group, which manages about 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion). By the middle of May, rebar prices began to plunge, leaving Regan’s CTA No. 3 fund up 125% for the month.
As China battles commodity prices which threaten to derail the nation’s economic recovery, the quantitative offerings of so-called commodity trading advisers have outperformed, drawing a flood of investor interest. Hangzhou-based Qihe New Asset Management’s Chenxing No. 1 delivered the best returns among all CTAs in China, topping 400%, for the first half.