by Jim Williams
Copper prices fell 0.62 per cent in overnight futures trading as speculation centered on a weak trend at domestic spot market on low demand.
Meanwhile, copper for delivery in three months rose 0.2 per cent to $6,075.50 a ton at the LME, while in Shanghai, metal for delivery in July climbed 0.2 per cent to $7,058 a ton.
Economic News
The Wall Street Journal reports that China’s central bank is planning to launch a new credit-easing program in the next couple of months. The WSJ says the program will allow Chinese banks to swap local-government bailout bonds for loans to boost liquidity and lending. The plan, dubbed Pledged Supplementary Lending, is similar to the long-term refinancing operations, or LTROs, used by the European Central Bank.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday he would have to resort to a popular referendum if lenders insisted on “unacceptable” demands, but was confident about striking a deal to avoid such a scenario. Ruling out a default, Tsipras expects an agreement with creditors to happen by May 9, just three days before a debt payment to the IMF is due.
More Reading
The following article from Forbes.com focuses on one of the biggest players in the copper industry, but we found this is the best summary of the copper market we’ve seen in a long time. Hopefully you enjoy the read and it relates to what you do every day.
Forbes Article – The Unwinding of Copper Financing Deals on Freeport-McMoRan
Here is another interesting article that tries to predict copper pricing through 2020.
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