InvestIdeas

Copper below US$9,500 per tonne is now cheap, according to analysts at Citi, who have raised their forecasts to an average US$10,000 in the fourth quarter of this year and US$12,000 in 2026.

Many other analysts are doing likewise. Reasons to be bullish include supply constraints, a turn in the old manufacturing cycle and an acceleration in copper-intensive energy transition sectors.

The promise of a further demand booster from artificial intelligence in the form of bigger data centres is the latest strand in copper’s bull narrative.

The only sceptics are physical copper users, who are not seeing any tangible signs of that promised boom in their current order books.

The European manufacturing sector is still in the recessionary doldrums, contracting for the 21st month in March, while US and Chinese factory sectors are showing only the first signs of expansion.