EVERY WEEKDAY FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR, TED MAGAZINE IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP 20 STORIES OF 2021. BELOW, THE #14 MOST-VIEWED STORY OF THE YEAR, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 11, 2021.

Copper Price Continues to Fall After Hitting Record High

It’s been an interesting month for copper prices.

After hitting a record high on May 10 at more than $4.80 a pound, the price to open the day on June 11 sits at $4.35, 45 cents lower per pound. Analysts are saying the price as “hit a wall” and may stay around this price for a while.

One reason is an announcement this week from China’s state planner that the country will be monitoring commodity prices and will strengthen supervision of the markets. China is currently the world’s largest consumer of copper. There are analysts who believe that will keep prices in the $4.35 per pound range, but interest in clean energy could create increases in the second half of 2021 and beyond. One analyst at Shaw & Partners believes copper supply will meet or exceed demand by 2023 or 2024.

To date, the price is copper for 2021 is up about 90 cents a pound, after beginning 2021 at slightly higher than $3.50 a pound.

And compared to prices one year ago, the price of copper in June 2020 was barely above $2.50 a pound, meaning it has nearly doubled over the past 365 days.