On Wednesday, copper prices stayed around $8,350 a tonne as expectations that China’s relaxation of Covid-19 limits will eventually boost demand were countered by an increase in infections that are short-terming consumption.
Due to its rigorous zero-Covid policy, which hampered economic growth and caused copper prices to drop as low as $6,955 in July after reaching a record high of $10,845 in March.
An analyst in Europe who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media said, “Copper is in a difficult situation. He asserted that the market is trapped between the prospect of a longer-term recovery and the current lackluster demand, forecasting turbulent pricing this year but a surge above $10,000 next.
At $8,360.50 per tonne, benchmark copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) were up 0.1%. This month, it increased by 1.5 percent after rising by 10.6% in November. LME nickel dropped 1.5% to $27,905, zinc dropped 1.3% to $3,043.50, and aluminium rose 0.8% to $2,392.50 a tonne. Tin was down 0.1 percent at $23,900 while lead fell 0.9 percent to $2,160.