According to chief of Chile workers unions, copper price will probably not recover from last year’s decline. The situation won’t change even if tensions in the US-China trade disputes persist.
Diego Hernandez, former miner and current president of Chile mining unions SONAMI (La Sociedad Nacional de Minería) does not expect demand for copper to rise during this year. Therefore, price of the industrial metal will probably remain on the same low level. “We expect that pound of copper will be traded for $2,80. It will very much depend on international development. Yet, we don’t think that the price would significantly grow from its last year’s lows,” Hernandez said to Reuters.
Copper price fell down to average $2,72 per pound, while the value was reaching about $3,00 on average in 2018. Therefore, copper cut down in around one tenth last year. Hernandez suggests that development of electric vehicles could cause growth in demand for copper, yet more significant price growth could only appear in price medium term. Possible persistence of tensions between the US and China would not affect the price anyhow. And based on recent negotiations, the US-China trade disputes could soon be over.
