China Molybdenum Co. (CMOC) acquired Louis Dreyfus Company's metals trading business, IXM, for $518m in 2018. Both parties were actively pursuing a deal, and we understand many parties submitted bids for IXM. CMOC wasn't solely driven by the opportunities IXM presented in copper concentrates, a market in which IXM has a substantial presence, currently handling in excess of an estimated 2Mt per year of copper in concentrates. A longer-term view was taken, across a variety of metals including copper, zinc and lead concentrates and refined metals including cobalt, molybdenum and nickel. Acquiring IXM provided a platform for CMOC to undertake its own marketing and leverage its expertise.