- Write by:
-
Tuesday, March 17, 2020 - 10:42:14 AM
-
752 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - Copper prices plunged on Monday after China released a set of economic data showing the deepest declines on record for industrial production and fixed asset investment.
According to Mining News Pro - Copper trading in New York fell by more than 5% on Monday to a low of $2.335 a pound ($5,150 a tonne), the lowest since early November 2016. The copper price is also down 19% from its 2020 high, struck near the end of January.
This would be unprecedented in China’s modern economic history – GDP growth last contracted in year on year terms in 1976
Capital Economics senior China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard
Growth in industrial production in China contracted by –13.5% in January and February compared to the same period last year. Expansion in December was still at a healthy 6.9% clip. It was the lowest figure on record and much weaker than the –3% median expected by economists polled by Bloomberg.
Fixed asset investment for January and February dropped 24.5% year on year as the construction sector all but ground to a halt (new construction starts down 45% and sales down 40%) and manufacturing stalled as most migrant workers opt to stay at home after the lunar new year break.
In a note, Capital Economics senior China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard said taken together with similarly weak services sector and employment numbers (five million lost jobs) “suggest that official GDP growth averaged –13% during the first two months of the year”:
Evans-Pritchard adds that the data may be even worse in coming months because the two-month combined numbers released by Beijing mask the fact that in January disruption to economic activity was still relatively limited.
Copper is particularly vulnerable to broader economic conditions given its widespread use in electrical grids, construction, transportation and industry.
China is responsible for more half the world’s copper consumption and the bulk of global production.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/503341
BHP Group can’t cherry pick Anglo American assets without paying a hefty premium, Anglo investors told Reuters, ...
Anglo American faced calls from shareholders on Monday to detail plans for improving its value in order to fend off ...
Copper slipped after initially extending gains above $10,200 a ton as traders turned their attention to demand ...
Glencore expects profit at its trading division this year to be at the top end of its long-term annual guidance, in an ...
Top copper producer Codelco reported a decline in quarterly output due to lower quality ore at its aging Chilean mines — ...
When former boss Mark Cutifani left Anglo American Plc in mid-April 2022, things had rarely looked better for the ...
Chile President Gabriel Boric said on Thursday he is targeting an increase in the country’s annual copper output by 1 ...
Brazilian miner Vale SA sees no impact from BHP Group’s bid for Anglo American on the latter’s Minas-Rio project, its ...
Copper miner Antofagasta Plc is holding meetings with investors this week for its first dollar bond offering in nearly ...
No comments have been posted yet ...