Copper futures topped $US4 a pound on Friday for the first time since 2011, with a likely global economic recovery and a rise in renewable energy sources lifting the metal's outlook.
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Copper for March delivery rose 17 cents, or 4.4%, to settle at $4.074 a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Friday, for the highest most-active contract settlement since September 2011.
Copper supply was hampered by production slowdowns due to COVID-19 restrictions and while supplies should pick up in 2021 the market is expecting a deficit meet demand in the years to come.
A shortfall in new copper deposit discoveries is also expected to add to the squeeze in the next five to 10 years while demand will be driven by batteries and electric vehicles which require copper - some estimates say electric vehicles need four times as much copper as non-electric vehicles.
The International Copper Study Group said world mine production fell by 3.5% in the April to May period last year at the height of the COVID shutdown.
ICSG also reported that world refined copper production rose by 1.5% in the first 10 months of 2020, but world refined copper usage rose by 2% in the same period.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
