Outlook for base metals remains strong, analysts say
Copper cathode production at Florence Copper’s test facility, July 2020. Credit: Taseko Mines.
Haywood Securities is raising its price forecasts for copper this year from US$3.00 per lb. to US$3.50 per lb.; for zinc from US$1.10 per lb. to US$1.25 per lb.; and for nickel to US$8.00 per lb. from US$6.75 per pound.
Looking beyond 2021, Haywood’s forecast for 2022 is US$3.50 per lb. copper; US$1.20 per lb. zinc; and US$8.50 per lb. nickel.
“The economic recovery is building, demand for metals is increasing, and sentiment about base metals is positive,” Haywood’s Pierre Vaillancourt said in a new research report today. “China ended 2020 in remarkably good shape, and remains poised to expand further this year, as the economy grew 6.5% in Q420, faster than the 6.1% consensus forecast, and industrial production rose by 7.3% in December 2020, the highest since March 2019.”