How do I bulk insert to a table without affecting read performance on that table?

Hi,

I've got a pg database, and a batch process that generates some metadata to
be inserted into one of the tables. Every 15 minutes or so, the batch script
re-calculates the meta data (600,000 rows), dumps it to file, and then does
a TRUNCATE table followed by a COPY to import that file into the table.

The problem is, that whilst this process is happening, other queries against
this table time out. I've tried to copy into a temp table before doing an
"INSERT INTO table (SELECT * FROM temp)", but the second statement still
takes a lot of time and causes a loss of performance.

So, what's the best way to import my metadata without it affecting the
performance of other queries?

Thanks,

Andrew
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