Copper prices hit new high on post-pandemic recovery hopes

Copper for delivery in July was up 0.98% at 06:45 GMT, with futures trading at $4.8085 per pound, or $10,578 per metric ton, on New York’s Comex market.

Investors have reportedly turned to the metal as major concerns over recovery of the global economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic have gradually eased amid the latest vaccination drive across the world.

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China’s massive physical purchases of refined copper were the initial driver for the post-pandemic price rebound. The nation imported 4.4 million tons in 2020 – up 1.2 million tons from the previous year.

Meanwhile, unionized employees at BHP’s Escondida and Spence copper mines in Chile, the world’s number-one copper producer, are reportedly planning to vote on a strike, after contract negotiations came to a deadlock. The mines account for nearly 20% of annual copper output in the country, driving the global price for the metal higher.

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