Kostas Bintas, the high-profile head of metals at Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., has renewed his bullish prediction for copper prices as he warned that a rush to ship metal to the US risks draining the rest of the world’s inventories.

The world’s metal traders are enjoying their most profitable ever year, after a series of supply upheavals propelled prices toward record highs and drove huge shifts in metal moving across the globe.

Some of the world’s biggest energy trading companies are returning to metals, years after getting burnt in the notoriously difficult markets.

China is about to upend the $160 billion iron ore trade with the biggest change in years as Beijing expands efforts to increase control over the natural resources needed to feed its economy.

Two exchange-traded funds contributed to the carnage in the oil market in April.