Commodity News
HeadLine : Copper slips to new 5.5-year low
Date : Jan 30 2015
Copper prices fell to a new five-and-a-half-year low Thursday, brought down by a stronger dollar and investor concerns that China's slowing economy would hamper demand for the industrial metal.

Copper for March delivery, the most actively traded contract, closed down 1.1 per cent at $US2.4515 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest level since July 21, 2009.

Prices have plumbed five-year lows in recent months amid fears that a slower pace of global growth, combined with ample mine output, would lead to a copper supply surplus.

The metal is widely used in manufacturing and construction, making copper sensitive to economic shifts.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve signalled it would keep short-term interest rates near zero at least until midyear, while providing a relatively upbeat assessment of current US growth and labour market conditions.

At the same time, the central bank also hinted at wariness about low inflation, slow global growth, a stronger US dollar and international market turbulence.

Investors, however, construed the comments as mildly hawkish, sending the dollar higher and weighing on copper, which is priced in the US currency and becomes more expensive to foreign buyers when the greenback appreciates.

At the same time, China reported that steel consumption didn't expand in 2014 for the first time in 14 years, a sign that the country's economic slowdown may be hindering demand for raw materials. China is the world's largest consumer of copper, which is used extensively in manufacturing and construction.
News Archives: