Early in the morning of September 25, the copper price was recorded trading directly on the LME at 9,844 USD/ton, up nearly 200 USD, or about 2% compared to yesterday’s price of September 24.
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) increased by 1.5% to 9,687 USD/ton, after reaching a peak of 9,700 USD earlier in the session, the highest level since July 17.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), the October copper contract also recorded an increase of 1.8%, to 76,760 yuan (equivalent to 10,908.52 USD)/ton, with the highest level reaching 76,780 yuan, the highest level since July 19.
China’s copper consumption demand usually increases sharply around the end of September and December every year.
“Demand has been good in the past few weeks. Steel rebar output in September has increased due to low prices,” said He Tianyu, an analyst at CRU. He also said output from the home appliance and electric vehicle industries has been strong, along with increased investment in the power grid. Copper inventories at SHFE are currently at 164,938 tonnes, the lowest since February 8..
The People’s Bank of China has announced a series of monetary stimulus and property market support measures, including stimulus packages and real estate subsidies, and lower interest rates on home loans.
The US Federal Reserve is expected to make more interest rate cuts next year, after cutting interest rates by 0.5 percentage points last week. This could boost demand for metals and put pressure on the US dollar, making them cheaper for holders of other currencies.
In addition to copper, prices of some other metals have also increased. Aluminium (CMAL3) on the LME rose 1.4% to $2,529.50 a tonne, zinc (CMZN3) rose 2% to $2,941.50, nickel (CMNI3) rose 0.8% to $16,675, lead (CMPB3) rose 0.9% to $2,076 and tin (CMSN3) rose 1% to $32,620.
Experts say that copper and other raw materials prices will continue to rise in the near future.
