Copper

Copper futures crossed the $4.1 per pound mark in January, the highest since mid-June with continued support from expectations of stronger demand and looming supply concerns. Top producer Chile forecasted its output to contract by nearly 6% in 2023. Major industry players warned that worldwide production will be unable to keep up with soaring demand as modern economies transition to copper-dependent renewable energy sources. Consequently, mining giant Glencore estimated a cumulative supply shortfall of 50 million tonnes until 2030, and Trafigura warned that current global inventories can supply world consumption for less than 5 days. In the meantime, Chinese authorities reopened mainland borders with Hong Kong and relaxed quarantine for incoming travelers, further moving away from its strict zero Covid policy and raising expectations of higher economic activity and increased in demand for industrial inputs.

Historically, Copper reached an all time high of 5.02 in March of 2022. Copper - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on January of 2023.

Copper is expected to trade at 3.82 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 3.56 in 12 months time.