While most traders and investment banking firms have repeatedly shrugged off weaknesses in the copper market as purely sentiment, without fundamental support, Societe Generale has bucked the trend and as in now saying that they are not very optimistic about near-term copper prices.
As a metal that does not easily degrade or lose its chemical and physical properties, copper is amenable to recycling. Because of this, recycled copper is sometimes considered when calculating world coppers reserves. But can the scrap copper market help support the growing demand for the red metal?
Copper’s push towards record-highs was stymied Wednesday, as traders took a strengthening greenback as a signal that it was time to take profits.
Copper futures retreated Thursday, snapping Wednesday’s rally to a three-month high, as negative sentiment over China’s economic future outweighed better-than-expected US manufacturing data.
In an interview with Resource Investing News, Yu-Dee Chang principal at ACE Investment Strategists Inc. attributed the recent volatility of copper prices to the “shift of investment demand in copper from small speculators to larger hedge funds.”
In an interview with Copper Investing News, when asked if peak copper is a current reality, Yu-Dee Chang, Chief Trader at ACE Investment Strategies, commented “Although the day will ultimately get here, the answer for now is probably- not yet."
Peru has not always been considered one of the world’s top copper mining countries; however, over the last two decades, a piqued interest in the country’s copper deposits has been is driving Peru's economy.
Copper rose Tuesday, on the back of an agreement by French banks to rollover Greek debt. France introduced a “creative” solution to the Greek debt-crisis on Monday, suggesting that banks roll over some Greek debt for 30 years, in order to help the struggling economy avoid insolvency.
With copper supplies already in a deficit, and the near-term supplies are dwindling due to a reliance on aging mines, and rising copper prices, there is extra incentive to search for new copper reserves.
Copper prices have been gaining over the last week as the red metal touched a three-week high last Friday, ignoring weak economic data out of the United States as a rally in equities and a weak greenback provided enough momentum to boost prices.
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