Copper futures decreased to $4.4 per pound on Tuesday, the lowest in more than seven weeks, as China is set to take measures to curb any further rise in commodity prices. The Chinese authorities have been signaling the crackdown on speculation in commodity markets already for some time. Meanwhile, it was reported that China's state reserves administration plans to sell its reserves of copper, aluminum, and zinc until the end of 2021. Still, copper prices remain close to an all-time high of almost $4.9 per pound in the second week of May, as trillions in dollars of economic stimulus to support post-COVID recovery including funds for infrastructure and for transition to a carbon-free world, boosted demand. At the same time, lack of investment by big mining companies and a slowdown in production during the height of the covid outbreak last spring brought inventories to levels not seen in fifteen years.
Historically, Copper reached an all time high of 4.90 in May of 2021. Copper - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on June of 2021.
Copper is expected to trade at 4.31 USd/LB by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 3.96 in 12 months time.