Rio Tinto names Shell’s Katie Jackson as new copper chief
Jackson, who is the current president of National Grid Ventures, an energy group, joins Rio Tinto on September 1.
The copper price fell on Tuesday, pressured by fears of slowing global economic growth.
Copper for delivery in July fell 0.75% from Monday’s settlement price, touching $4.31 per pound ($9,488 per tonne) midday Tuesday on the Comex market in New York.
Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices
“Central banks are maintaining their hawkish stance to try to kill inflation, and killing inflation will also kill the economy,” said WisdomTree analyst Nitesh Shah, predicting further price pressure in the coming months.
However, he agreed with many other analysts who say the long-term outlook for copper remains strong because of low investment in new mines and the demand generated by the green energy transition.
Copper, which is widely used in the power and construction sectors, reached a record high of $10,845 per tonne in March.
“Recent consumption run rates imply copper and aluminum shifted into surplus globally in April,” analysts at Citi said.
“It will likely take some time for the balances to tighten … we are most bearish on nickel, then copper, and least bearish on aluminum and zinc.”
(With files from Reuters)
