China loosening COVID-19 restrictions resulted in copper prices moving above $9,000 a tonne last week for the first time since June 2022. Fueled by optimism that China will have high demand due to the removal of COVID-19 restrictions, prices zoomed up to a whopping $9000 and above. Incidentally, China is the world’s largest consumer of copper.
Copper has bounced back following a 14% decline in 2022, which was due to tough restrictions. The country’s shift away from these restrictive policies has caused the metal to rebound with a surge, while expectations for less aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have added support.
Meanwhile, the current thought is that US interest rates have stopped rising, pushing the dollar to a seven-month low. This would help buyers using different currencies to buy dollar-priced metals more easily.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
Copper has bounced back following a 14% decline in 2022, which was due to tough restrictions. The country’s shift away from these restrictive policies has caused the metal to rebound with a surge, while expectations for less aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have added support.
Meanwhile, the current thought is that US interest rates have stopped rising, pushing the dollar to a seven-month low. This would help buyers using different currencies to buy dollar-priced metals more easily.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
