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Copper has reportedly posted 11 months high, trading above US$9,000 a tonne, as investors react to the risk that global supply challenges would tilt the market back into deficit.
According to a report by Bloomberg seen by Zambia Monitor on Friday, Copper rose as much as two percent to US$9,066.50 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange.
The metal, seen as a bellwether of the global economy, surged this week after smelters in China held a crisis meeting on how to cope with a sharp drop in processing fees following unexpected disruptions to supplies of mined ore.
Read more: Copper prices rise first time in three sessions to hit $8,493 per tonne
On the other hand, investors were said to be warming to the idea that the worst of a global downturn was past, particularly for metals like copper that are finding growing usage in electric vehicles and renewables.
Macquarie analysts led by Marcus Garvey stated that a market deficit was expected this year for both concentrates and the refined metal, with a drop in smelter output.
“Following another year of disappointing mine supply, the bank sees prices peaking at $9, 500 a tonne in the third quarter of 2024,” Garvey projected.
Analysts pointed to the unexpected tightening in the global copper market as being driven mainly by last year’s closure of a giant mine in Panama, with growing worries about output in Zambia, which is facing an El Niño-induced power crisis.
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