You can see on my chart below that the price for copper has been surging since the end of 2016. The question every investor must ask is whether the surge is to be long-lived, or is fleeting. Scott Patterson of the Wall Street Journal serves readers some much needed information about the current state of the copper market today.
A year ago, miners were haunted by hair-raising worst-case scenarios in commodities as growth in China stalled, investors panicked and prices fell to what Barclays called their lowest levels in 30 years.
Anglo said it would cut its workforce in half. Glencore frantically raised $4.7 billion from asset sales to trim its debt. Investors told Glencore executives they worried copper could dip below $4,000 a metric ton, threatening the stability of the miner’s debt-laden balance sheet.
But while copper flirted with the $4,000 level, it never breached it. On Friday, copper prices were over $6,000 a metric ton.
The metal’s resurgence partially has been driven by a government economic stimulus program in China, where over 40% of the world’s copper is consumed.
Read more here.