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Copper is entering a new bull market phase, Citi says
Bloomberg News | April 9, 2024 | 4:40 am Intelligence Markets China Copper

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Copper has entered its second secular bull market this century, Citi analysts said, as the metal traded near a 15-month high.


Prices have risen over 10% this year as disruptions at major mines threaten refined metal production at the Chinese plants that account for more than half the world’s supply. The Federal Reserve’s expected pivot this year to easier monetary policy is also brightening the outlook for the global economy.

Still, China is grappling with a prolonged property crisis and sagging consumer confidence. The country’s smelters, which produce more than half the world’s refined copper, are considering output cuts after processing fees fell near zero.


“Copper’s second secular bull market this century is being driven by booming decarbonisation-related demand growth,” the Citi analysts wrote in a note. “Only higher prices will solve these deficits.”

During copper’s bull market of the 2000s, prices rose more than five-fold in three years, driven by urbanization and industrialization in China. Citi recommends corporate consumers hedge their copper exposures, because there is potential for “explosive price upside” again over the next three years.

Prices briefly dipped in the London morning, before recovering, as LME data showed inventories jump by the most since September. Copper was up 0.4% to $9,449.00 a ton on the London Metal Exchange as of 11:04 a.m. in London, after prices hit $9,484.50 a ton on Monday, the highest since January 2023.

Other base metals were higher, with zinc rising 1.4% as Chinese output faces risks due to a collapse in treatment charges at smelters.
https://www.mining.com/web/copper-is-entering-a-new-bull-market-phase-citi-says/

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