Goldman Sachs analysts believe copper’s bullish run is now “fully underway,” with prices up 50% from the 2020 lows, reports CNBC. On Tuesday, copper prices touched $7,719 per metric ton following stronger-than-anticipated manufacturing activity in China and South Korea, the highest since March 2013.
- Goldman analysts raised their 12-month forecast for copper to $9,500 per metric ton, up from a previous estimate of $7,500.
- The analysts expect a sustained, higher average price for 2021 and 2022, averaging $8,625 next year, before rising further to an average of $9,175 in 2022
- Goldman says it is “highly probable” copper will test the existing record high of $10,170 set in 2011
- The current copper “price strength is not an irrational aberration, rather we view it as the first leg of a structural bull market in copper”- Goldman.
- Increasing vaccine hopes and a weaker U.S. dollar has supported copper prices in recent months after March’s low of $4,600 per metric ton.
- Goldman has cautioned investors that copper’s path to $10,000 will require higher prices to incentivize new supply and balance the market in the coming months.
- Copper prices have risen more than 22% this year and are on pace for its best year since 2017
Copper is currently gaining. Copper futures are up 0.16%
