Hopes for Stimulus package lets copper prices rise

Copper prices rose again on Tuesday as investors weighed the prospect of a quick stimulus package in the US. On the Comex, copper for delivery in March rose 1.5% to $ 3,723 a pound ($ 8,190 a ton). Should it close at this level, it would be the highest level since February 2013. The metal rallied on hopes that US economic stimulus will continue to stimulate demand and was supported by China's decade of low inventories. The Democrats in the House of Representatives released the first draft text on Monday for key bills that will include President Joe Biden's draft law to relieve the Covid-19. The Democrats are pushing plans to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2025 and provide another round of stimulus packages. Billions of dollars are budgeted for airline, airport and train staff. The copper stocks on the LME, Comex and ShFE markets are at multi-year lows. "Inventories on the exchanges are still quite low. This is a good indication that industry demand for copper is there and that this is not just a speculative story," said Nitesh Shah, an analyst with investment manager WisdomTree. to Reuters. In China, the world's largest consumer, copper supplies usually pile up in the run-up to the Lunar New Year as businesses close for the weeklong celebrations. But this year, Chinese inventories have fallen to a decade low due to robust demand from factories that maintain high operating rates due to reduced closures and tighter travel restrictions for workers. Meanwhile, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on copper supplies continues to be felt. In what was supposed to be a year of supply growth, global recovered production in the first 10 months of 2020 was 0.5% below 2019 levels, according to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG). In Peru, the second largest producer in the world, copper production fell by 12.5% ​​to 2.15 million tons in 2020, as the country's energy and mining ministry announced on Monday.