Copper futures recovered some ground to trade near $3.8 per pound, but remained close to the lowest level since February 2021 after suffering their worst week in a year, as fears of a demand-sapping recession continued to hang over the market. Still, news that China eased Covid-19 restrictions in Shanghai and relaxed testing mandates lifted prospects for higher demand. Also, data showed that Chinese imports of copper concentrate hit a record high of 2.19 million in May, bringing imports up 6.1% to 10.42 million during the first five months of the year. On the production side, workers at the world's largest copper producer Codelco in Chile reached an agreement with the company to end a national strike over the decision to close the troubled Ventanas smelter.
Historically, Copper reached an all time high of 5.02 in March of 2022. Copper - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on June of 2022.
Copper is expected to trade at 3.68 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 3.45 in 12 months time.