The copper price rose on Thursday as China’s supportive measures for its property sector boosted sentiment.
Copper for delivery in December rose 1.6% on the Comex market in New York, touching $3.67 per pound ($8,074 per tonne).
[Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices]
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.3% to 65,130 yuan ($9,117.76) a tonne.
“Metals are higher from Chinese bank’s pledge for loans and interest-free terms to other banks for re-lending to developers,” a Singapore-based metals trader said.
“There’s definitely more upside in the near-term … low inventories and any small catalyst from China policy change will help push metals higher.”
Three of China’s biggest commercial banks have agreed to provide fundraising support to property developers, including industry giant Vanke, in a coordinated effort to support the country’s embattled property sector.
On Thursday, Codelco warned on Thursday that global shortages of the metal may reach eight million tonnes by 2032.
Maximo Pacheco, chairman of the board of Codelco, said at an industry conference that while a surplus is expected in the short term due to new projects in Chile, Peru, Congo and Tibet, medium to long-term demand will eclipse supply further down the line.
“There’s going to be an oversupply (of copper) for a year or two. There’s some slowing growth and there’s a few new projects coming up at the same time,” BHP’s Chief Development Officer Johan van Jaarsveld told Reuters in an interview.
“But that surplus will have evaporated by the end of the decade,” Jaarsveld said on the sidelines of the CRU World Copper Conference Asia in Singapore.
(With files from Reuters)
