Copper prices averaged USD 8,277 per metric ton in September, down 0.9% from August’s price but 6.9% higher year on year. On 29 September, copper traded at USD 8,213 per metric ton, 2.3% lower month on month.
Prices slid in September amid stronger supply in the world’s top two producers. Copper output rose 17% year on year in July in Peru, and it rebounded in July–August in Chile. On the demand side, conditions improved relative to prior months, but the recovery was geographically uneven and not enough to offset greater supply. In Western markets, demand softened, as signaled by contractionary manufacturing PMI readings in the Eurozone and the U.S. More positively, demand in top consumer China should have strengthened. In September, the Asian powerhouse’s manufacturing PMI posted its first expansionary reading since March. Moreover, the country deployed a battery of measures to boost the property sector—which included lowering mortgage rates and down payments—and slashed the reserve requirement for commercial banks.
Copper LME (prices in US$/mt, aop)
Q1 2021 | Q2 2021 | Q3 2021 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2022 | Q3 2022 | Q4 2022 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Copper LME | - | - | - | - | 9,993 | 9,536 | 7,767 | 8,030 |