"Copper prices are expected to rebound in six weeks (according to Esther Thomas from International Business Times ...Friday Oct 7 2011) In a survey of 15 respondents by Bloomberg, 10 copper traders and analysts see the prices of the commodity growing by next week, while five others forecast a fall. The survey is the most bullish reading taken on the commodity since August.
Copper collapsed to a 14-month low on Oct. 3 on speculation that demand will decline owing to a slowdown in global economies, particularly China, the world's largest consumer of copper. The three-month contract for copper traded at $7,200 a metric ton Thursday afternoon on the London Metal Exchange, staging a 25 percent loss, for what could be its second-worst year performance in almost a quarter century. Prices fell 54 percent in 2008.
It dropped 29 percent from February's record $10,190. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Barclays Capital and Standard Bank have cut their calculations since last week.
It is seen to average between $7,000 and $9,000 a ton next year, according to 55 percent of attendees to an LME conference Monday. "We believe that policy risk, especially in Europe, remains elevated, and the current cyclical slowdown is much more pronounced," Walter de Wet, a Standard Bank analyst in London, told Bloomberg. "We therefore do not expect much upside yet for most commodities. We would look to sell base metals into rallies rather than worry, just yet, about missing a potential dip/entry point for metals such as copper."
