Zambia’s economic prospects continue to remain bright with Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) recording a rebound of about 0.6% to over US$9,300 ($9, 384.50) per tonne in the month of September 2021.
According to Reuters report, Copper prices rose on Monday 27 September 2021 on the back of falling stockpiles in exchange warehouses in top consumer China and the general shortage of scrap metal boosted demand for refined copper.
The three-month copper on the LME rose by 0.6% to $9,384.50 a tonne by 02:57 GMT, while the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 0.8% to 69,580 yuan ($10,760.55) a tonne.
Tighter restrictions and supply disruptions also limited supplies of scrap copper, forcing some users to switch to copper cathode for consumption. In September last year, copper on the LME was trading around $6,500 per tonne.
Copper is Zambia’s number one foreign Exchange earner accounting for over 70% of total exports for the mineral rich country. The country produces about 850,000 tonnes of copper annually, which at current prices would mean revenues of about US$8 billion (850,000 tons *9,300).
According to the Zanaco weekly financial markets update, heightened possibility of a debt default by China’s second largest property developer, Evergrande, sparked a sell-off among copper investors early in the week leaving the price of the red metal lower.
On average, London copper was down 2.5% to a 5-week low of $ 9, 226.81/MT from $9, 461.05. However, and on a statement that Evergrande would honour its interest obligations on a local bond, fears eased and copper was seen partially erasing part of the earlier losses Wednesday through Friday but a hint that the US may start tapering its stimulus program limited this recuperation effort.
