Copper price defies pullback predictions

Copper prices held steady on Monday despite expectations that its rapid recovery in recent months will reverse on another virus outbreak in China, lowering business activities around the globe.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange is trading at around $8,000 a tonne, down 0.1% but still near an eight-year high. The bellwether metal is up more than 80% since demand tanked in the first half of 2020 as coronavirus lockdowns floored industrial activity.

Reasons for the expected lull include scrap, which typically starts to emerge at high prices, and the risk of wider lockdowns undermining industrial activity in the first quarter.