Copper: Humanity’s first and most important future metal
Millions of feet of copper wiring will be required for strengthening the world’s power grids, and hundreds of thousands of tonnes more are needed to build wind and solar farms.
The copper price rose on Tuesday after Chile, the biggest copper-producing country, recorded its lowest January output since 2011.
Production tumbled 15% last month from December and 7.5% from January 2021, the bureau of statistics reported Monday, without giving a clear reason for the drop.
Copper for delivery in May rose on the Comex market in New York, touching $4.5850 per pound ($10,087 per tonne), up 2.9% compared to Monday’s closing.
[Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices]
The conflict in Ukraine could also drive copper prices higher, according to an S&P Global report.
Russia is a heavy producer of the metal and the probability of more sanctions against the country is highly likely as the invasion continues.
“Market sources believe the near-certainty that stricter sanctions will be introduced on trade with Russia could further squeeze supplies in global markets that are already tight, with deficits in some cases,” S&P Global says.
“The metals markets in the short-term remain at the mercy of the Ukraine situation, moving back and forth between risk-off and risk-on dynamic,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, a partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan.
(With files from Reuters and Bloomberg)
