Categories:
Base Metals
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General Market Commentary
Topics:
General Base Metals
/
General Market Commentary
Goldman has more good news for copper, zinc price
While it's pulled back a bit since New Year, the price of copper ended 2017 near a four-year high of $3.30 a pound ($7,260 per tonne) extending the bull run in the red metal for a second year. Measured from its multi-year lows struck at the beginning of 2016, copper has gained more than 70% in value.
The rally for zinc has been even more spectacular with the metal, mainly used to galvanize steel, ending 2017 at a decade high of $3,330 a tonne. Zinc has more than doubled in value after a slump that ended around the same time copper hit bottom two years ago.
Reuters quotes investment bank Goldman Sachs as saying zinc demand looks rosy for the first half of the year while the New York-based firm prefers copper over aluminum over the longer term:
"Concern about a sharp slowdown in metals demand as the country adopts a new 'quality over quantity' growth model may be overblown," it said, adding that metal producers outside China are set to gain.
"Ongoing supply-side reforms and environmental cuts in China translate into higher commodity prices and less Chinese production, both of which benefit ex-China producers."
Shipments of copper concentrate to China hit a monthly record of 1.78m tonnes in November and the tally for the year should beat last year's record 17m tonnes.
Refined copper imports are trending down with recently released data showing cargoes are down some 5% over the first 11 months of 2017 to 4.24m tonnes compared to the same period in 2016. Full year imports in 2016 hit a record 4.94m tonnes.