A bullish stance for base metals and market uncertainty caused by a deceleration in economic growth in Europe, Japan and China were the key topics of the base metals panel at the annual Shanghai Derivatives Market Forum on 29-30 May.
Bullish on copper, aluminum, nickel, cobalt Speakers were positive about the performance of copper, aluminum, nickel and cobalt in the second half of 2018, with the most optimism reserved for copper. "Among the base metals, copper has the greatest potential for further price increases this year since both supply and demand for the red metal are robust," Shengzhang Luo, general manager of Jinmai Resources, said. The London Metal Exchange copper price is expected to average $7,213 per tonne in 2018 (17% growth from 2017) and $7,813 per tonne in 2019 (8% increase from 2018), according to Metal Bulletin forecasts. Dong Tao, managing director of Credit Suisse, concurred with Luo,...