Chile: Copper prices rise further in January
Copper prices continued their stellar run in January and marked the eighth consecutive monthly increase. Copper prices averaged USD 3.20 per pound (equivalent to 7,072 per ton) in January, up 3.1% from December’s average of USD 3.11 per pound. In annual terms, copper prices increased 23.1%. The average copper price for January was the highest since July 2014.
Prices continued to be bolstered by healthy global demand, and reacted positively to the news in mid-January that Chinese growth beat expectations in Q4; the Asian giant is the top consumer of the red metal. In addition, Chinese copper scrap imports fell sharply in December, and scrap import quotas for 2018 were down sharply over the prior year. Investors judged that this should boost demand for more refined forms of the metal going forward.