- Write by:
-
Saturday, January 30, 2021 - 1:16:52 PM
-
113 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - Copper prices continued to slump on Friday, hitting their lowest point of the month amid a global sell-off in equities and a firmer US dollar, which made greenback-priced metals less appealing to holders of other currencies.
Zoom:
Copper futures on the Comex were down 0.2% to $3.57 a pound (or about $7,780.54 a tonne) by noon EST.
Elsewhere, the most actively traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.4% to 58,000 yuan ($9,023.45) per tonne, after falling as much as 2% earlier.
Weaker equities also hurt risk sentiment across asset classes and raised concerns about liquidity in financial markets.
“Fundamental is supportive but macro is not,” analyst He Tianyu of consultancy firm CRU Group said in a note to Reuters, adding that demand for copper in top consumer China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday has been better than the same period in previous years.
“The Chinese government encourages workers to celebrate the holiday locally. That means working days will be longer than before,” he said.
According to an S&P Global report released last week, industry analysts are predicting the rise in copper prices to continue in 2021 on low inventories and a bullish demand narrative, though at a slower pace.
Mining analysts at Canaccord Genuity expect Chinese stimulus to support copper demand in combination with an expected global economic recovery in 2021.
“We now expect copper prices to average $3.50/lb ($7,716/mt) in 2021, an approximate 17% increase on our previous forecast of $3.00/lb ($6,614/mt),” Canaccord said.
Related News
Mining News Pro - Copper is so crucial in electrifying the global economy that finding enough of it has become a national security issue, according to mining magnate ...
Mining News Pro - St George Mining has discovered new high-grade nickel-copper sulphides at the Mt Alexander project in Western Australia.
Mining News Pro - CIMIC Group chairman and chief executive officer Juan Santamaria expects the company’s position will strengthen due to growth in Australia’s major ...
Mining News Pro - BHP president of minerals for the Americas Ragnar Udd has expressed his optimism for growing copper demand in the future at the CRU World Copper ...
Mining News Pro - Copper’s turbo-charged rally has stalled over the last few weeks as funds have taken profits and physical buyers have refused to chase prices ...
Mining News Pro - Chile Mining Minister Juan Carlos Jobet said on Monday the country`s center-right government would oppose a bill to hike royalties on copper and ...
Mining News Pro - All the talk about how green hydrogen will help heavy industries kick their fossil fuel habit is starting to turn into action in the biggest ...
Mining News Pro - A resurgence of Covid-19 in Chile should not dampen output at Anglo American`s sprawling copper mines in the Andean nation this year, nor is it ...
Mining News Pro - Diversified major BHP believed that global de-carbonisation efforts would hold significant opportunity for the resources sector.