Copper futures declined to $4.3 per tonne in the end of January, the lowest in five weeks, amid a strong dollar and forecasts of higher production. The US dollar rose to 17-month highs as the Federal Reserve signaled policy rate hikes in March and left room for further hikes during 2022, decreasing the purchasing power of importing states, while the prospect higher rates could dampen metals demand. At the same time, the Chilean Copper Commission confirmed their forecasts of lower copper prices for 2022, citing economic slowdown for the world’s top copper consumers. The commission also anticipated copper production to increase by 4.1% during 2022, returning to pre-pandemic levels, in addition to a 5.5% rise in 2023. Domestically, the Chile’s production is expected to increase by 2.2% to 5.7 million tonnes in 2022 and 4.6% to 6 million tonnes in 2023.
Historically, Copper reached an all time high of 4.90 in May of 2021. Copper - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on January of 2022.
Copper is expected to trade at 4.43 USd/LB by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 4.16 in 12 months time.