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Copper production in Mexico:
The metal is used in many industries and is therefore considered a reliable economic indicator
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HECTOR GUERRERO v DPA
On the commodity markets, the downward slide in prices for industrial metals continued after weak economic data from China.
On Friday, the price of a tonne of copper on the London Stock Exchange fell below the $7,000 mark for the first time since November 2020.
Copper was still trading at a price above $7,300 on Thursday.
The metal is heading for its worst weekly loss in more than two years, down 10.6 percent.
Since the high in early March, the price has fallen by more than 30 percent.
The price of copper is considered by economists to be a highly sensitive barometer for the state of the global economy, and the term "Dr. Copper" is often used in this context.
The sharp fall in prices just before the weekend is explained by weak economic data from China.
In the second largest economy in the world, the economy has clearly lost momentum.
Due to strict corona measures, economic output in the second quarter grew by only 0.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
It is the weakest quarterly growth since the beginning of the corona pandemic.
At the beginning of the year, China's economy had grown by 4.8 percent.
Analysts at the US investment bank Goldman Sachs have meanwhile significantly reduced their target price of USD 8,650 per ton.
They are now assuming that the price could fall to $6,700 a ton in the next three months.
They also explained this with the strong dollar, which makes the metal more expensive in countries outside the dollar area and slows down demand.
Iron ore under pressure too
In addition to the copper price, the prices of other industrial metals were also under severe pressure.
The price of iron ore fell by almost 3 percent to $102.55 a ton.
On Thursday, iron ore even traded below 100 US dollars at times after investors became increasingly concerned about an imbalance in the Chinese real estate sector.
In recent years, China has required large amounts of steel due to the construction boom, which has pushed up the price of iron ore.
In general, prices for industrial metals have been under pressure for weeks.
The cause is growing concerns about a slowdown in the global economy due to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, China's tough approach to combating the corona pandemic and rapidly rising interest rates in many economies.
Since the spring, a month-long rise in metal prices has been followed by a correction that has recently continued.
mg/dpa-afx
