Weaker copper prices predicted

The global copper market will experience a surplus next year, causing average cash prices to fall below US$1 per lb., according to industry analyst Bloomsbury Mineral Economics.

In its latest monthly review, Bloomsbury estimates that at the end of the first half of 1995, the global market will be in deficit by 150,000 tonnes, with total stocks standing at 1.3 million tonnes.

But the bull market, which was expected to last until 1995, is believed to have peaked, as a result of the severity of the slowdown in consumption in the U.S. and Latin America. Bloomsbury predicts the global market will show a 135,000-tonne surplus by the second half of next year, with total stocks standing at 1.5 million tonnes. Cash prices are estimated to fall to US$1.20 per lb. at year-end from US$1.30 in the first half, and then to US99 cents per lb. by mid-1996.